Reflections on brazilian media speech and the legitimation of punishment

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the approach that the Brazilian media gives to criminality (mainly urban), and how it contributes to the legitimacy of the current punitive state. The criminal issue is portrayed by the mass media in such a way that it produces distortions in reality and, consequently, influences the formation of opinions by the lay public, which trusts media information and often absorbs its message. His approach to the problem basically defaults to the reinforcement of stereotypes and the punitive ideal, with an absence of debates about different points of view. Thus, from the observation of the time that the five largest television channels allocate for programs that deal centrally or tangentially with the criminal issue, the impact that the media point of view causes on society is reflected on, seeking to demonstrate the correlation between the resurgence of criminal law, the increase in incarceration and the way the media approaches criminal news. The sampling procedure (to select and analyze the schedule of television channels) and the bibliographic review (to locate, investigate and interpret the problem defined in the Criminology scope) was used.