THE CONTROVERSY IN JOURNALISM: GRANTING RELIABILITY TO SOURCES IN SOCIOTECHNICAL NETWORKS FROM A GENERATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Journalistic practices; Actor-Network Theory; Controversy; Event; Reliability; Journalistic sources.
This research carries out an ante-cartography aimed at characterizing the granting of reliability to sources in sociotechnical networks from the generational perspective as a controversy, considering the contributions of Actor-Network Theory (Latour, 2012, 2013; Lemos, 2013; Law, 2021) and its application to describe phenomena in journalism (Plesner, 2009; Wiard, 2019; Ryfe, 2021). Based on interviews conducted with 28 professionals from Diario de Pernambuco and Jornal do Commercio, we assume the role of the ante-cartographer, focusing on verifying the uncertainties that permeate the network actors that constitute the controversy as a path to understanding the phenomenon. To construct the research, we sought contributions on the professional daily life and generational profile of journalists (Adghirni, 2005, 2017; Figaro, 2014; Linne, 2014; Barcellos; Gil, 2018; Pereira, 2019; Broersma; Singer, 2020; Guilhermano; Fonseca, 2021), journalistic sources (Pinto, 2000; Chaparro, 1994, 2014; McPherson, 2016; Nordheim; Boczek; Koppers, 2018; Lage, 2019; Buduchev, 2019; Malling, 2021) and credibility in journalism (Lisbon; Benetti, 2015, 2017; Mendes; Amaral, 2019; Gould; Rocha, 2019; Mota, 2020; Costa; Simas, 2021). Among the results obtained, we highlight: detection of generational biases among professionals; the interference of platforms in the selection of sources and in the coverage of events; the concept of journalistic reliability and its dependence on momentary factors; and the event as a controversy resulting from journalistic practice.