A imagem do estudante e do governo militar no discurso do jornal O Estado de S. Paulo

Abstract

This study demonstrates how O Estado de S. Paulo Journal has built the student and the military government images in two distinct periods: during the military dictatorship and during the final process of the democratic opening. It analyzes how the discourses have been built during both historical contexts, to represent those two actors – the student and the military government – and how the news are highlighted by the newspaper, a reality simulation so that the readers became oriented to accept them as truths. It has been used Greimas Semiotics as the methodological and theoretic basis, as well as the propositions offered by some of his followers. The corpus is composed by fifteen texts: eight of them are integrated news from the coverage reports on the UNE XXX Congress, published by O Estado de S. Paulo, in October 12th, 1968, and seven are news which compose the coverage report made by the same newspaper of the Assembly of Sé, that took place in Square of Sé – São Paulo State, in January 25, 1984. The research demonstrated that the announcer changed its point of view as soon as had been changed the social and historical panorama positioning itself, during the military regime, against the student movement as revealed by its discursive strategies. On the other hand, with the democratic opening, the same announcer demonstrates be alongside those who have tried to overthrow the military regime. That showed the inconstancy of journalistic speech and therefore its subjectivity. According to 1968´s reports the military government was characterized in a positive way while the students were characterized in a negative way. In 1984 the strategy was to mention the military government so as purported, which doesn’t bring as much responsibility for what we say and as for the students, the newspaper had chosen not refer to them. In that moment the newspaper didn’t need this figure to contrast to the military government because the society was representing that role. Considering these aspects, it emerged that the reading that takes place on a fact is always open to manipulation. Every human action involves a manipulation according to a semiotic view. Every sender has the possibility to modalize his addressee; to make one believes in his values. This is how the speech manipulates, regardless of its form.