RIGHT-WING DIGITAL POPULISM AND JOURNALISTIC CREDIBILITY CRISIS

• Grant number: 25/02777-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2026
• End date: January 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Communications - Journalism and Publishing
• Principal Investigator: Angela Maria Grossi
• Grantee: Letícia Cerqueira Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes, Comunicação e Design (FAAC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Digital populism is associated with discrediting journalism by attacking democratic authorities, the competence and integrity of communication professionals, knowledge and culture, as well as promoting the disintermediation of information, especially through social media. When it comes to the far right, these elements are amplified and take on a connotation of an "us against them" war. In this digital environment, there is the use of strategies that feed informational disorder, such as post-truth and various elements of the disinformation ecosystem in general. Thus, with the advance of right-wing populists on social networks, the credibility crisis that journalism faces with the public is amplified, affecting the trust placed in these professionals. As one of the factors of disorder, democracy is unstable, since democratic structures are under threat at the same time as authoritarian governments come to power. This research aims to map and understand the strategies that right-wing populist leaders use on social media to discredit journalism. The main targets of these politicians are news outlets that have shown themselves to be opposed to their agendas, and they do this mainly by disintermediating information. In order to illustrate the characteristics of this type of strategy, we chose to look more closely at Jair Bolsonaro. The specific objectives are: Mapping the political strategies of right-wing populists on social media; Identifying the elements that discredit journalism and favor right-wing populists; Understanding the consequences of the strategies used by these actors for the integrity of journalists, both professionally and personally; Understanding how information disorder stimulates the disintermediation of information and harms the work of professional journalists. To this end, the methodology is based on exploratory research, using biographical and documentary research procedures, as well as looking deeper into the work of a right-wing populist figure: Jair Bolsonaro. This will be done by analyzing the content of his Instagram posts during specific periods. As a result, we intend to understand the way in which these politicians dialog with the population and the tools they use to perform journalistic disintermediation. (AU)