Editorial

November 19, 2024 | SWIRLS BETWEEN THE WATERS AND POLITICS

In recent months, elections - the most important public communication event in democracies - have occupied all spaces of political debate, as a journalistic agenda and a topic for debates on the rhetorical and aesthetic juggling of propaganda. The topic ranges from the dispute over votes and inauguration protocols for the rector of UFRGS, professor Márcia Barbosa; the disputes to win 5,472 city halls and seats in city councils in Brazil, until the fierce North American clash between Democrats and Republicans between candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden and, in the latter's exit, with Kamala Harris. After the defeats and victories, the analyzes impose themselves on the curiosity of researchers and analysts who expand research agendas to understand the configurations of disputes, infer the justifications for the votes attributed, considering contexts and topical situations, especially the climate crisis.< /p>

We are still experiencing the impact of the floods that devastated the south and triggered several important investigations. OBCOMP actively participates in this debate, through research on the elections in Porto Alegre that offered several unique aspects for analysis, considering the premises of the field of public communication that cover the responsibility of public actors in the relationship between the elections and the floods in Porto Alegre , namely: how would flooding in the capital affect the elections?; how would journalistic coverage address the climate crisis during the election period?; How would candidates use floods in their campaigns?; and how did misinformation actions affect problem solving during the floods, considering the circulation of truths and lies? To the first question, the Environmental Journalism Observatory coordinated the research entitled “Climate Disaster on the Agenda? Analysis of coverage of the municipal elections in Porto Alegre”. The second question was addressed by Nucop/OBCOMP, which also analyzes the empirical material conveyed by the campaigns under the title “The Theme of Flooding at HGPE in Porto Alegre”. Finally, two projects linked to disinformation in climate crises: extension action “Sound Journalism in the fight against disinformation and the climate crisis”, coordinated by OBCOMP at UFSM-FW, and the OBCOMP/UFRGS project of mapping actors and communicating about actions and projects to “Combat misinformation in the context of the public calamity in RS”.

The results of these surveys have yet to be finalized, but they already indicate the imbalance between the rationality of information and the passion of propaganda, whose quality can mystify and cover up any act. The dispute between the re-elected candidate for mayor of Porto Alegre, Sebastião Melo and the candidate Maria do Rosário is a topic that allows us to analyze the power of advertising aesthetics and the populist performance that guaranteed the victory. At the same time, research expands the debate on the relationship between the climate crisis that affects the earth and the communication processes under the responsibility of political actors and governments. At the recent INCT.DD Congress (National Institute of Science and Technology in Digital Democracy) other works were presented that brought together researchers from different institutions to address this topic, under the coordination of Nucop/OBCOMP.

The floods left on the banks, sufficient empirical material that will allow to qualify the debate on the crises of journalism and public communication, in the face of the technological imperative, the domain of doubt between truth and lies and in the face of new configurations of contemporary democracy, which can range from simple populism to the authoritarian exercise of rulers who circumvent republican values.

It is in this context that we will hold the IV Public Communication Day, promoted by the Public and Political Communication Center and the Communication Observatorylde;o Pública, on the 21st and 22nd of November on the theme “Public communication and climate tragedies in the waters of the South”. Researchers, students and professionals will come together to present research, debate and analyze climate issues in the face of challenges to democracy, public communication and, especially, journalism.

Porto Alegre, November 19, 2024