Technopopulism and Politainment in Brazil: Bolsonaro Government’s Weekly YouTube Broadcasts

Karina Di Nubila, Carlos A. Ballesteros-Herencia, Dunia Etura and Virginia Martín-Jiménez
Additional contact information
Karina Di Nubila: Department of Journalism, University of Valladolid, Spain
Carlos A. Ballesteros-Herencia: Department of Journalism, University of Valladolid, Spain
Dunia Etura: Department of Journalism, University of Valladolid, Spain
Virginia Martín-Jiménez: Department of Journalism, University of Valladolid, Spain

Media and Communication, 2023, vol. 11, issue 2, 137-147

Abstract: Digital platforms have become powerful weapons in the hands of many politicians. In search for disintermediation of information, Jair Messias Bolsonaro found in social networks a new space to interact with his voters. With a communication strategy primarily online, the former president of Brazil had social profiles on all platforms and has transformed these channels into official government sources, in a campaign whose goal was to discredit the traditional media and occupy the place of speech of these social actors. This article analyzed Bolsonaro’s weekly live streams, made available on his YouTube channel in order to study the technopopulism undertaken by Bolsonaro. Through a quantitative and qualitative content analysis, 121 videos (with a total duration of 83 hours and 58 minutes) were examined, from March 7, 2019, when the president of Brazil began doing the weekly YouTube broadcasts, until May 11, 2022, when this research was planned. The results indicate that the themes addressed in the live streams have influenced the disinformation process in Brazil and especially the hate attacks against important Brazilian democratic institutions. The speeches of resentment against the press, the Supreme Court, and the opposition parties are constant in Bolsonaro’s weekly programs. Finally, this article concluded that Bolsonaro’s communicative strategy on YouTube is an example of technopopulism based on the manipulation of public opinion with the dissemination of propaganda favorable to the government, and veiled attacks on all kinds of enemies of the current system in place as a true example of right-wing populist government.

Keywords: Bolsonaro; Brazil; disinformation; politainment; post-truth; technopopulism; YouTube (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6470 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v11:y:2023:i:2:p:137-147

DOI: 10.17645/mac.v11i2.6470

Access Statistics for this article

Media and Communication is currently edited by Raquel Silva

More articles in Media and Communication from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().