The Workers Party in the editorials of the mainstream press (1989-2014)

Abstract

Departing from the concept of political parallelism, this article examines the relationship between Brazil's "mainstream press", consisting of the three major newspapers in national circulation, namely 1) O Estado de S. Paulo, 2) Folha de S. Paulo, and 3) O Globo, and petismo between 1989 and 2014. Empirical analysis is carried out of editorial pieces focusing on the Workers Party (PT) and its candidates published by these newspapers during the last seven presidential elections. The texts were evaluated using the valence analysis method and grouped into interpretative packages. The results show the predominance of negative editorials and the use of "populism" and/or "corruption" frameworks in the narrative about the PT and petismo both before and after the PT began their government at the federal level.