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Journalism and Multiple Modernities: The Folha de S. Paulo Reform in Brazil

2018; Routledge; Volume: 20; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1461670x.2018.1528881

1469-9699

Afonso de Albuquerque,

Media Studies and Communication

The reform of the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo in the 1980s has been often presented by scholars and the reformers themselves as an example of a process of journalism modernization inspired by the US Fourth Estate model. However, a close examination of documents publicized by Folha and members of the management team ahead of the reform suggests that other elements – associated to a Neoliberal and a Leninist view of journalism – performed a role as important as the Fourth Estate as sources of the newspaper's model of journalism. Contrary to the conventional knowledge, this article suggests that the core reason behind of reform was the perception, shared by Folha's managers that they have lost control over the newsroom, and their consequent effort in restoring their authority, rather than merely emulating a foreign model. It is argued that a better understanding of journalism modernization in non-western societies requires going beyond the usual model adoption and model adaptation approaches and exploring a multiple modernities perspective.