“A Very Difficult Choice”: Bolsonaro and Petismo in Brazilian Newspapers

Abstract

Regardless of what Bolsonaro does, the shadows of Lula and the Workers’ Party (PT) appear to be ever present in Brazilian legacy media. How does this affect the way they deal with Bolsonaro’s authoritarian tendencies? Drawing on a qualitative content analysis, this article discusses how the three most influential Brazilian newspapers—O Globo, Folha de S. Paulo, and O Estado de S. Paulo—have presented this topic. We hypothesize that, for these newspapers, the prime referential for authoritarianism is not Bolsonaro, but Lula and PT.