{"id":163828,"date":"2013-10-06T18:31:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-06T21:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=163828"},"modified":"2015-02-12T16:30:05","modified_gmt":"2015-02-12T18:30:05","slug":"the-sensationalist-press-and-science-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/the-sensationalist-press-and-science-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The sensationalist press and science"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Announcing

abiuro<\/span><\/a> Announcing the arrival of a radium bomb to staff at a hospital in S\u00e3o Paulo, and Brazilian scientists\u2019 discussions about the hydrogen bombabiuro<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Published in May 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

In the 1950s, when the term \u201cUFO\u201d had just\u00a0entered the vernacular, flying saucers were\u00a0reported to be seen soaring over Pra\u00e7a da\u00a0S\u00e9, the main public square in downtown\u00a0S\u00e3o Paulo. The arrival of a radium bomb \u201cfor\u00a0the first time in South America, containing ten\u00a0grams of the metal,\u201d was presented with a bigger\u00a0headline than that for an article about a civil\u00a0servant strike against the eight-hour work day.\u00a0Residents of the state of S\u00e3o Paulo were warned\u00a0that \u201cblood boils at an altitude of 63,000 feet,\u201d\u00a0a frightening prospect that would delay \u201cthe\u00a0battle to conquer a new world.\u201d In a country\u00a0devoid of magazines specializing in science\u00a0communication and where the radio was the\u00a0leading means of mass communication, science\u00a0enjoyed free run in the pages of Di\u00e1rio da Noite<\/em>,\u00a0a S\u00e3o Paulo evening newspaper that was one\u00a0of the key publications of Di\u00e1rios Associados,\u00a0Assis Chateaubriand\u2019s powerful media empire.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike many others back then, Chateau\u2013briand\u2019s\u00a0agenda was to achieve national union\u00a0through the modernization of Brazil. He believed\u00a0that this necessarily demanded an end\u00a0to the \u2018ignorance\u2019 of the masses, whether this\u00a0might entail attacking spiritism and Africanbased\u00a0religions \u2013 which he referred to as \u2018voodoo\u2019\u00a0\u2013 or whether it would involve using science\u00a0to overcome Brazilian \u2018backwardness\u2019,\u201d\u00a0explains historian Mariza Romero of the Pontifical\u00a0Catholic University in S\u00e3o Paulo (PUC\/SP). \u201cDi\u00e1rio da Noite<\/em> started featuring scientific\u00a0information for lay readers who had no familiarity\u00a0whatsoever with technology. What\u2019s interesting\u00a0is that the paper didn\u2019t have a set page\u00a0or supplement devoted to the topic but inserted science in the middle of the police, political, and\u00a0sports sections, and oftentimes pasted it in the\u00a0headlines, too,\u201d says Romero.<\/p>\n

Romero, who first studied this sensationalist\u00a0newspaper\u2019s role in religious, social, and police\u00a0matters in her book In\u00fateis e perigosos<\/em> (\u201cUseless\u00a0and Dangerous\u201d; Educ\/FAPESP), has now analyzed\u00a0the paper\u2019s scientific agenda in Divulga\u00e7\u00e3o cient\u00edfica e imprensa popular<\/em> (\u201cScience Communication\u00a0and the Popular Press\u201d). \u201cFrom 1950\u00a0to 1960, Di\u00e1rio da Noite<\/em> managed to engage in\u00a0science communication aimed at educating the\u00a0public that was more comprehensive than many\u00a0of the more formal, specialized supplements and\u00a0sections that were appearing in the Brazilian\u00a0press but reached only a very limited audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chateaubriand\u2019s evening paper was tinged\u00a0with sensationalism right from its start, in 1925.\u00a0Financed by businessmen, captains of industry,\u00a0and ranchers from S\u00e3o Paulo, by the 1950s the\u00a0paper boasted state-of-the-art printing presses, experienced professionals, and international\u00a0writers. It published heavy-hitting stories and\u00a0first-hand news, but the police pages and tales\u00a0of scandal got the spotlight. With a print run\u00a0of 70,000 and two editions, its circulation vied\u00a0with that of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s top papers.<\/p>\n

Romero explains, \u201cDi\u00e1rio da Noite<\/em> forged\u00a0strong bonds with the poorer classes. Because of\u00a0redemocratization and the growth of consumption,\u00a0these sectors began to be seen as playing a\u00a0leading role in political engagement on the one\u00a0hand, and as classes that needed the guardianship\u00a0of the government on the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accordingly, she points out that, while\u00a0the paper declared itself to be the \u201cpeople\u2019s\u00a0defender\u201d through its support of popular\u00a0demands, it also maintained ties with\u00a0upper-class sectors, who were worried\u00a0about the emergence of the lowest classes. \u201cBecause of its alleged ties to the common\u00a0people, Di\u00e1rio da Noite<\/em> did not position\u00a0itself openly against the struggle of the\u00a0masses. But the paper regularly made it\u00a0clear just who would have no place in the\u00a0new day then dawning and who would be left out of modernity, even though they\u00a0had been invited to join in.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the developmentalist perspective\u00a0adopted by Brazil\u2019s federal administration\u00a0after the demise of the dictatorial Estado\u00a0Novo, science was presented to society as\u00a0a vital tool in the process of leading the\u00a0country toward economic progress and the longed-for modernity. Furthermore,\u00a0in 1950s Brazil, innovations such as home\u00a0appliances, cars, and agricultural machinery\u00a0were increasingly accessible to a budding\u00a0national consumer market. Science\u00a0was at the service of humanity, as some advertisements said. \u201cOne thousand, ninehundred\u00a0highly skilled technicians have\u00a0created the aerodynamic Vigorelli \u2018super\u00a0machine\u2019 just for you,\u201d boasted a sewingmachine\u00a0ad that ran in Di\u00e1rio da Noite<\/em>. In\u00a0another ad, a new type of paint was hailed\u00a0as a \u201cthrilling discovery in chemistry,\u201d and\u00a0the reader was invited to \u201cverify the new\u00a0product\u2019s remarkable features.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the Juscelino Kubitschek administration,\u00a0Brazil was excited about\u00a0developmentalist thinking, and this\u00a0broader ideological basis provided the\u00a0underpinnings for the idea that technological development would make it possible\u00a0to open the only path to true economic\u00a0independence for Brazil,\u201d observes\u00a0Luisa Massarani, of the Oswaldo Cruz\u00a0Foundation\u2019s Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, in\u00a0her book Um gesto ameno para acordar o pa\u00eds: a ci\u00eancia no Jornal do Commercio\u00a0(1958-1962)<\/em> (\u201cA Gentle Gesture to Wake\u00a0up the Country: Science in the Jornal do\u00a0Commercio,\u201d 1958-1962), published by\u00a0the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. Walter\u00a0Oswaldo Cruz, coordinator of the Jornal do Commercio\u2019<\/em>s science section, stated in\u00a0the first edition: \u201cBrazil will not achieve\u00a0development without technical personnel,\u00a0and technical personnel are the human\u00a0product of science.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBrazilian science communication has\u00a0its singularities. The government never\u00a0invested heavily in science and technology\u00a0or in science education, which left to\u00a0the media the task of introducing science\u00a0to a public whose level of technological literacy was low,\u201d explains Ana Maria Ribeiro\u00a0de Andrade, researcher at the Museum\u00a0of Astronomy and Related Sciences\u00a0(Mast) in Rio de Janeiro and author of A din\u00e2mica da ci\u00eancia na sociedade<\/em> (\u201cThe\u00a0Dynamics of Science Within Society,\u201d Hucitec\/Mast). \u201cSo, some individual efforts\u00a0notwithstanding, sensationalism is the\u00a0prime feature of this science communication:\u00a0the construction of scientific facts\u00a0always comes wrapped in mystery, every\u00a0discovery involves an act of genius, and history is almost always invisible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romero points out that, in the case\u00a0of Chateaubriand\u2019s newspapers, there\u00a0was a peculiar blend of sensationalism\u00a0and valid science communication, as in\u00a0the following front-page headline: \u201cSee\u00a0the young man through the eyes of the\u00a0dead priest.\u201d As printed in huge letters \u2013\u00a0much like the headlines for the reports\u00a0of miracles that were commonplace in\u00a0the paper \u2013 it suggested that the article\u00a0would be sensational. However, the actual\u00a0content of the story \u2013 which was told\u00a0over the course of three days \u2013 revealed\u00a0that the reporter had done his research\u00a0and produced a well-written article containing\u00a0precise information. What at first\u00a0glance appeared to be the headline for a\u00a0frivolous story proved to be a good strategy\u00a0for drawing in the reader.<\/p>\n

\"Di\u00e1rio

abiuro<\/span><\/a> Di\u00e1rio da Noite<\/em> discussed how man might reach the moon and featured science even in its adsabiuro<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Children<\/strong>
\nAnother headline announced that\u00a0Brazilian scientists were going to\u00a0discuss the effects of the hydrogen\u00a0bomb. \u201cOddly enough,\u201d Romero points\u00a0out, \u201cthe headline was located right\u00a0above a lead that said \u2018children will\u00a0suffer without milk,\u2019 and back then\u00a0the first story most certainly drew\u00a0more attention than the local issue of\u00a0mothers furious about the milk policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case of the hydrogen bomb also illustrates\u00a0the paper\u2019s ambivalent attitude\u00a0toward science, which it viewed as both\u00a0a magic bullet for solving the country\u2019s\u00a0troubles and a potential source of myriad\u00a0dangers. The headline \u201cA document by\u00a0the astute Americans resonates among\u00a0researchers\u201d alerted readers to the possibility\u00a0that nuclear energy might have\u00a0adverse effects, a concern that led the\u00a0paper\u2019s staff to speak with professors at\u00a0the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP). Finding\u00a0himself in an awkward position, the\u00a0physicist Marcelo Damy stated, \u201cThe subject\u00a0lies outside my field of expertise\u201d and,\u00a0further, that he was \u201con the whole against\u00a0the use of atomic weapons for the purposes\u00a0of war.\u201d According to the article, \u201cJos\u00e9 Goldemberg, of the S\u00e3o Paulo School of\u00a0Philosophy spoke \u2018briefly\u2019 to reporters\u00a0about the damaging effects of radioactivity.\u201d\u00a0Romero explains, \u201cMany scientists\u00a0didn\u2019t like to see themselves associated\u00a0with papers like Di\u00e1rio da Noite<\/em> because they didn\u2019t want to tarnish their reputations.\u201d\u00a0Because of this fragile relationship\u00a0between the scientific community and\u00a0the paper, articles on such burning issues\u00a0as developmentalism and the Cold War\u00a0could take flights of fancy.<\/p>\n

At times, the subject was literally a fanciful\u00a0flight, as in the stories related to flying\u00a0saucers that often made the front page\u00a0of Chateaubriand\u2019s evening paper. \u201cThe\u00a0Brazilian press failed to offer their readers\u00a0enough information to recognize heavenly phenomena and routine flying objects.\u00a0Lacking any background in science, many\u00a0of them were susceptible to the speculations\u00a0offered up by sensationalist papers,\u201d\u00a0observes historian Rodolpho Gauthier Cardoso\u00a0dos Santos, who researched the topic\u00a0for his book A inven\u00e7\u00e3o dos discos voadores: Guerra Fria, imprensa e ci\u00eancia no Brasil (1947-1958)<\/em> (\u201cThe Invention of Flying\u00a0Saucers: The Cold War, the Press, and\u00a0Science in Brazil, 1947-1958\u201d). As a result,\u00a0the morning papers \u2013 including O Estado de\u00a0S. Paulo<\/em> and Folha da Manh\u00e3<\/em>, which were\u00a0basically aimed at the middle and upper\u00a0classes \u2013 did not devote as much space to\u00a0such subjects because the editors of those\u00a0papers were more aware that matters of war might be involved.<\/p>\n

Most papers usually conveyed the idea\u00a0that science was something grandiose and\u00a0inaccessible to the man on the street; it came\u00a0cloaked in myths, with scientists isolated\u00a0by the complexity of their subject matter.\u00a0\u201cA huge wall stood between science and\u00a0the reader, built by myths about scientific\u00a0work, which, combined with the idealized\u00a0image of scientists, did nothing to encourage\u00a0Brazilians to study science,\u201d Andrade says.<\/p>\n

Romero says, \u201cIt is my belief that Di\u00e1rio\u00a0da Noite<\/em>, quite to the contrary, made science\u00a0more accessible to the reader, precisely\u00a0because it used more popular journalistic\u00a0techniques. Unlike other means of\u00a0science communication, it also gave voice to contemporary fears and anxiety about\u00a0scientific development. It thus helped demystify\u00a0science, which I believe is one of\u00a0the distinguishing features of my research.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Romero\u2019s opinion, because Di\u00e1rio\u00a0da Noite<\/em> defined itself as a voice for the\u00a0lower classes, it intended to use science\u00a0communication to raise the members of\u00a0those classes out of their ignorance and to\u00a0promote the ideals of comfort, well-being, and happiness that were so dear to Brazil\u00a0in the 1950s, with science representing\u00a0one of the portals to modernity. \u201cAt the\u00a0same time,\u201d she notes, \u201cwhen the paper\u00a0denounced its risks and dangers, science\u00a0was demystified, and the paper also entertained the collective imagination when it\u00a0addressed subjects like flying saucers in\u00a0an ambiguous way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Project<\/strong>
\nSpreading scientific knowledge and the popular press. S\u00e3o\u00a0Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in the1950s (N\u00ba\u00a02011\/13246-2<\/a>);\u00a0Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Scholarship abroad; Coordinator<\/strong> Mariza\u00a0Romero \u2013 PUC\/SP; Investment<\/strong> R$ 22,266.26 (FAPESP).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Assis Chateaubriand\u2019s newspaper highlighted technology","protected":false},"author":370,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[220,226,241],"coauthors":[684],"class_list":["post-163828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humanities","tag-communication","tag-education","tag-history"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163828"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=163828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}