Between Attack and Resilience: The Ongoing Institutionalization of Independent Digital Journalism in Brazil

Abstract

Digital journalism in Brazil is dominated by a few big players and has recently been threatened by the country’s challenging political and economic environment. Still, organizational structures promoting independent digital journalism (IDJ) persist. Originally understood as “the blogosphere,” independent digital journalism in Brazil (IDJB) quickly evolved into several professionalized initiatives and now consists of dozens of news organizations. This article contributes to the field by (a) adding to scholarly conceptualizations of independent journalism in North America, Europe, and Latin America through the idea of “positive dependence” and (b) refining the understanding of IDJ in times of acute crisis. Based on an analysis of six emblematic cases, we show that IDJB is relational and distinct and that it functions without clearly defined boundaries. We further find that this relationality is necessary for IDJB to survive the attacks it faces. Different support networks shape “models of resilience” that, while not perfect, facilitate the institutionalization of IDJB by allowing for the slow but ongoing creation of new structures within the news ecosystem. Thus, the findings of this study suggest that the continuing institutionalization of IDJB and its particular characteristics contributes to the creation of a more diverse news ecosystem.

Keywords:

• Independent digital journalism
• Brazil
• institutionalization
• media democratization
• relational theory
• networked journalism

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Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Agência Pública was one of the first IDJB organizations. We reached out to the organization for an interview; however, the organization currently does not grant any interviews for research purposes. Thus, we used data retrieved through desk research.

2 Between 2015 and 2016, a series of protests shook Brazil in relation to “Operation Car Wash,” which consisted of a number of investigations into cases of corruption inside the government of President Dilma Rousseff. Hundreds of state officials and politicians were arrested, and the conflict finally led to the impeachment of Rousseff.

3 Nexo received USD $920,000 from the foundation in February 2019.

4 Current numbers can be seen at https://www.catarse.me/users/958285-the-intercept-Brasil

Additional information

Funding

This article is funded by Simon Fraser University Presidential Start-up Fund, and by the Editorial Support Fund for Faculty Members with English as additional language granted by the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology at Simon Fraser University.