Ethics and mass communication media: a study about the conceptions of childhood in the newspaper Gazeta do Povo

Abstract

This research investigated the concept of childhood spread by the newspaper from Paraná Gazeta do Povo
and the “ethical quality” of the analyzed reports. The cataloguing process of this study included journalistic
pieces from the month of November 2000 which had the word “childhood” or synonyms in the title or
on the three first paragraphs, or if they did not fit into this criterion, they were considered as treating the
childhood directly. Under this criterion 119 pieces were analyzed. The methodology of analysis was the one
proposed by Thompson, including three levels: description of the context of production, content analysis,
and interpretation and reinterpretation. The ethical matters formulated by Sánchez Vidal were used for the
interpretation of the ethical release of the messages published about childhood. On freedom, the context of
production reveals an accentuated influence of the local public power in the production of the newspaper, and
from the analysis of the messages it was not possible to find an increase on the level of freedom of people, 34 on the contrary, they show signs of being restrictive. The analysis of intentionality reveals that economical
benefits are put in the first place in the priority of the publicity and also in the massive exploration of pieces
with sensationalistic proposals. Latent intentions were revealed by the presence of forms of operation of the
ideology in the pieces. The addresses were treated in a homogenized form, and references to questions of
race, gender and age were practically absent, and without promoting participation. The values promoted
by the media were much more instruments for passivity and dependence than for well-being. The sociopolitical
posture of the professionals of communication, besides not presenting neutrality, was aligned with
the pole of power, and not with its opposite. On the methodology used, the forms of persuasion and
ideological diffusion were present in the texts. Regarding the moral consciousness of the professionals
of communication, it can be affirmed that the ethical code of journalists was not followed. The data
collected allows only an approximation to the ethical assignments of the producers of the pieces, and to
their responsibility. To this purpose, the conception of language as a producer of social facts seems not
to be an object of reflection.