Campanhas eleitorais no contexto da pandemia: um estudo sobre as estratégias de comunicação das principais candidaturas à Prefeitura de Juiz de Fora na eleição 2020 na TV e no Instagram

Abstract

Across Brazil, the 2020 municipal elections were scheduled by taking place during Covid-19 pandemic. In the specific case of Juiz de Fora, in Minas Gerais, also due to the unprecedented fact of not having any mayor or former mayor contesting the election, which had 11 candidates, among them, five women - of which three were among the main candidates. Based on this unpredictable political and electoral scenario, the dissertation proposes to study the electoral programs broadcast on the Horário Gratuito de Propaganda Eleitoral (HGPE) and the content published on the Instagram profiles of the main candidates for the local Executive: the then federal deputy Margarida Salomão (PT), who was elected, businessman Wilson Rezato (PSB), delegate and rookie Ione Barbosa (Republicanos) and state deputy Delegada Sheila (PSL). The main guiding question of the research is, after all, “what were the strategies triggered by the campaigns of the main candidacies in the different media?”, working with a focus on five dimensions: (1) image of the mayoral candidate, as well as the relationship with gender guidelines; (2) established image of the current municipal situation and, therefore, of the political-ideological bias of the campaign; (3) the most used themes; (4) the space that the Covid-19 pandemic had during election campaigns; and (5) points alluding to the meta-campaign and auxiliary elements. For this, the methodological process consists of three stages: bibliographic research, documental research (SEVERINO, 2007) and Content Analysis (BARDIN, 2010). The bibliographic reference is constituted by three theoretical lines: (1) "the mediatization process, the interface between media and politics and strategic representation"; (2) "political propaganda and electoral communication"; (3) "the power of mass and social media: notes on the HGPE and digital social networks in favor of electoral campaigns and gender issues in this environment". Among the considerations obtained, there is the finding of a strong presence of content related to the very image of the heads of the coalition, to the detriment of the low approach to the topic of the advancement of the new coronavirus. As for the image of the plaintiffs, a predominance of characteristics linked to family and professional environments was perceived. Regarding the women's agenda, the four contestants mentioned the gender agenda, in different ways and intensities. It was also identified a notorious confluence between massive and digital media in the electoral context of Juiz de Fora.