Para além da notícia : características e sentidos das matérias sobre pessoas presas publicadas em dois jornais online de circulação regional em Mato Grosso

Abstract

The ideas about the population deprived of freedom and the prison institution refer to prevailing notions and circulate in society through the various media. Thus, the use of the press as a source and analysis document becomes pertinent because it makes it possible to problematize the construction of social relations and the reality of daily life, recalling, however, the filters that constitute such relations expressed by this vehicle (the ownership of the media of communication, of financing, dependent on large companies, the criticisms made by the various pressure groups and the profile of the journalist). It is a qualitative study, of the documentary type, whose treatment of the data was given by thematic analysis, with the purpose of presenting and discussing the meanings of news published in two electronic newspapers of regional circulation, Mato Grosso. It should be noted that, in this specific medium of communication, the prison institution and its public, between May 2015 and April 2016, 40 news items were found whose contents stand out and were organized into four themes: re-socialization and recidivism ; overcrowding and infrastructural inefficiency; factors associated with rebellion and escape, symbolizing the claims and not passivity in the face of such precariousness; the engagement of women in criminal activities, generally described as subordinate to men's participation. The conclusions point to the role of the media in strengthening and legitimizing the negative view (reporting on the infrastructural precariousness and marginalization) of the prison institution, very rarely revealing the social, institutional and cultural factors (responsible for the high rate of imprisonment and its nuances) to critically understand the facts (beyond the news).