A political boss and the press: The impact on democracy of two Brazilian newspapers

When Brazil’s then-president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was implicated in a bribery scandal in 2005, Senator Antônio Carlos Magalhães from the state of Bahia emerged as one of the president’s most vocal critics. This study relied on a content analysis of scandal coverage in two competing Bahia newspapers: A Tarde, which had no overt political ties, and Correio da Bahia, which Sen. Magalhães owned. Results showed that Magalhães’s newspaper, Correio da Bahia, excluded citizens’ voices and covered Sen. Magalhães more extensively and favorably than did the competing newspaper, A Tarde. Thus, Correio da Bahia succumbed to owner influence, potentially threatening democracy by allowing Magalhães to set the newspaper’s agenda.