Paulo Francis, um conservador-liberal

Abstract

This study analyzes a part of the material produced by journalist Paulo Francis (Franz Paul Trannin of Matta Heilborn) in the period of his entry for the newspaper Folha de São Paulo (1975), and his transfer to O Estado de São Paulo (1991) untill the year of his death in 1997. The choice of this material was based on the opinions expressed by the journalist on issues related to liberal conservatism such as freedom, equality, meritocracy, private property, democracy and minority rights. It was reported that through an ideological shift from the 1990s, above all, the journalist became a liberal in economic and political terms, but conservative in ethical and social terms. In addition, the conservative-liberal aspect of Paulo Francis is shown in three moments of the journalist's career: 1 - in the controversy with actress Tonia Carrero in the late 1950s, II - in the period of the redemocratization of Brazil (19791989) that is coinciding with the arrival of neoliberal ideas around here, and III - in the late 1990s, when the journalist suffered the imminence of being sued by the directors of Petrobrás.