Apuração, desinformação e whatsapp na rotina jornalística: os atravessamentos da pandemia de Covid-19 nas redações de TV de Belém (PA)

Abstract

Like other activities, Journalism also needed to adapt to the so-called “new normal” with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. WhatsApp - which was already widely used by TV stations in Belém (PA) - became even more strategic for the production of television news after the start of the health crisis. Producers began to accumulate functions and use the app even more in information traffic and in contact with the public, characters, specialists and official sources. In view of this, the purpose of this research was to investigate what are the procedures adopted by these professionals to filter and verify the information that reaches the newsrooms, through WhatsApp, after March 2020, the month in which Pará registered the first case of Covid-19 and the firsts restrictive measures were implemented in the State. This work also proposes to indicate the profile of the professionals who are part of the journalistic production staff of the TV stations in the capital of Pará, including gender, age group and time of profession, in addition to mapping the perception of these professionals about the fight against disinformation, the challenges of producing and the defense of Journalism when the press is suffering so many social and institutional attacks. The research is supported by the concepts of Information Disorder (WARDLE and DERAKHSHAN, 2017), Participatory Culture (JENKINS, 2009), Interactivity (LEMOS, 1997), among others. To achieve the objectives of this study, a qualitative approach methodology was adopted and online interaction application techniques were used, which included 28 professionals from six stations in Belém, in addition to semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The survey results indicate that 100% of those who use WhatsApp do it in their work routine and most of them feel responsible for combating misinformation, although some were in doubt whether they have already aired a content without proper investigation. The most common checking procedures among producers are: asking the complainant for more information, researching the matter on the internet and asking official sources for a position. As for the profile of professionals, the study shows that the production staff of the stations is formed, mostly, by young professionals with little career time. The survey also pointed out that professionals face conflicts in carrying out their work, mainly due to the accumulation of functions and the precariousness of the profession.