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Partido da Imprensa Golpista (PIG, Template:Lang-en) is a term which became widely used among left-wing Brazilian websurfers since 2007 to characterize the attitude of the Brazilian mass media towards President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the 2006 presidential election. The term was popularized by journalist Paulo Henrique Amorim in his blog. Whenever he uses the term, Amorim writes it with an "i" in lowercase as a pun with the name of the web portal "iG". where he was an articulist, before being abruptly dismissed on March 18, 2008, in an action which he describes as a process of "ideological cleansing".

The term is also constantly used by journalists Luiz Carlos Azenha and Rodrigo Vianna on their blogs, which also helped to spread its popularity. However, the term gained wider notoriety when it was first used in the Brazilian Congress on a speech by Pernambuco Congressman Fernando Ferro, a member of the Workers' Party. He ironically suggested that film director and Rede Globo commentator Arnaldo Jabor should run for "President of the PIG".

Definition

Paulo Henrique Amorim's own explanation for the meaning of the expression appears whenever he mentions it in his articles. According to him, "in no serious democracy in the world, conservative, low-quality and even sensationalistic newspapers, and one single television network matter as much as they do in Brazil. They have become a political party – the PiG, Pro-coup Press Party".

Amorim argues that even some politicians have become part of the PiG. He argues that "the political parties are no longer an instrument of the coup but they have become the coup itself. With the speech of objective journalism, they not only do the job of a press that omits information; but do the job of a press that lies, distorts and deceits. Former President FHC was among the first politicians who realized that the political strength he needed could be found in the PIG, and thus nowadays he enjoys the image of being a prominent world leader".

According to journalist Maurício Dias, which draws a parallel between the Brazilian mass media and the FOX News channel, frequently accused of having a conservative bias, the Brazilian media is operated by a single guideline: "the Workers' Party candidate can't win"

Historical background

Paulo Henrique maintains that the mainstream Brazilian press historically defends coup d'états whenever the Brazilian President is not elected from among members of the ruling elites. The PIG, according to Amorim, had its origin with Carlos Lacerda, whom he says "helped to kill Getúlio Vargas". It continued its "struggle against democracy" throughout the governments of Juscelino Kubitscheck and João Goulart, when finally "it openly defended and promoted the Brazilian military putsch of March 1964". According to him, the mass media also "hammered Rio's governor Brizola throughout his two terms in office; and now conspires against Lula".

Political scientist Wanderley Guilherme dos Santos, which had predicted the overthrow of President João Goulart in 1964, argued in an interview given to CartaCapital in 2005 that the "mainstream media led Vargas to commit suicide based on nothing; it almost prevented Juscelino from taking office based on nothing; it led to Jânio resignation, taking advantage of his craziness, based on nothing; it tried to prevent Goulart's inauguration based on nothing".

Members

There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion. - Winston Churchill

According to Paulo Henrique Amorim, only three Brazilian families control the whole of the mainstream Brazilian media: the Marinhos (Roberto Marinho, Organizações Globo), the Mesquitas (Julio de Mesquita, Grupo Estado) and the Frias (Octávio Frias, Grupo Folha). According to Amorim, they dominate and condition news in Brazil, through their various newspapers, radio stations, news agencies and internet blogs. They have provoked what Amorim calls "a massacre" of the smaller Brazilian regional press, as a consequence of the control they exert on all of the mainstream information, in order to manipulate the Brazilian public opinion.

Role of the internet

According to writer Fernando Soares Campos, "without the internet, Lula would have hardly been elected; if he had, he would not take office; if he had took office, he would have been ousted with ease". He argues that "the PIG is strong, is Goliath, but the internet is filled with Davids". Campos says that the mere existence of the internet interferes with the monopoly of information by large media groups, and this interference hampers coups.

Criticism

Opponents to the use of this term claim that it would be paranoid. The press, according to opponents of this expression, only denounce irregularities in the government. So, the use of the term would be an attempt to put the population against the press.

According to journalist, Pedro Doria, the manifestation of an ideological polarity is intolerant and unable to explain a complex social reality. Another journalist, Sergio Leo, argues that the Brazilian mainstream media is too complex to be labeled as such, because it covers a wide range of subjects.

However, the President of the National Newspaper Association (Associação Nacional de Jornais - ANJ) herself, Maria Judith Brito, said that Brazilian press has assumed the role of a political agent in the 2010 presidential election. Brito herself is an executive of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. Interestingly, she was once a candidate for councilwoman for the Workers' Party. In her own words, Judith argues that the media has taken the role of the opposition to the Lula administration:

Press freedom is a greater good that should not be limited. In this general right, the counterpoint is always a question of media responsibility and, of course, the media are doing, in fact, the role of opposition in this country since the opposition is deeply weakened. And this role of opposition and investigation, no doubt, greatly bothers the government.

About her speech, journalist Luciano Martins Costa, from Observatório da Imprensa, commented that:

The biggest risk to the press comes from the press itself, when the newspapers come together to act as a political party.(...) When the press abandons its axis, we all lose. Especially the press.

References

1. "Conversa Afiada".
2. "Lula é ovacionado de pé na OIT, PIG na internet "não sabe"" (in Portuguese). viomundo.com.br. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
3. "EDUARDO GUIMARÃES E O PIG DO EQUADOR" (in Portuguese). viomundo.com.br. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
4. "Imprensa golpista ontem e hoje: como enfrentar o PIG?" (in Portuguese). rodrigovianna.com.br. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
5. "TIM, Oi e Telefonica querem dar golpe na Confecom: elas já entraram para o PIG? Vamos reagir!" (in Portuguese). rodrigovianna.com.br. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
6. "Deputado sugere Partido da Imprensa com Jabor na presidência". Vermelho. September 20, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2009.
7. Translated from: "Em nenhuma democracia séria do mundo, jornais conservadores, de baixa qualidade técnica e até sensacionalistas, e uma única rede de televisão têm a importância que têm no Brasil. Eles se transformaram num partido político – o PiG, Partido da Imprensa Golpista."
8. ^ UCB. Paulo Henrique Amorim fala sobre “PIG” e jornalismo na Internet. Brasília: Oficina de Produção de Notícias, Curso de Comunicação Social, Universidade Católica de Brasília; October 27, 2009
9. Dias, Maurício. "A guerra de sempre", Carta Capital, n.º 596, May 19, 2010, p. 14
10. Dias, Mauricio. FHC apoiaria “Golpe Branco.: Wanderley Guilherme dos Santos, entrevista à Carta Capital, 10 de junho de 2005. São Paulo: Revista Carta Capital, 10 de junho de 2005
11. Churchill Quotes
12. Campos, Fernando Soares. IMPRENSA GOLPISTA: Sem a internet, Lula já teria caído. Observatório da Imprensa, ISSN 1519-7670 - Ano 14 - nº 538 - 22/12/2009, May 19, 2009
13. J.R. Guzzo (2009-07-22). "Gente do ramo". Veja magazine. Editora Abril. From hearing what they are saying in the government and its surroundings, for example, journalists are among the worst disasters that this country has to face at the moment, more or less at the same level occupied by the white elite of the South and other enemies of popular causes.
14. citebite.com/a2h1y2c0j5uul Ideological intolerance and the world as it is
15. Corporativista
16. Blogs and journalism, one can not be another. Or not.
18. Tatiana Farah (2010-03-18). "Entidades de imprensa e Fecomercio estudam ir à Justiça contra Plano Nacional de Direitos Humanos". O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2010-03-30.
19. Luciano Martins Costa (2010-03-25). Observatório da Imprensa (ed.). "Imprensa versus governos" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2010-03-30.

See also

• 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt

• Internet culture
• Internet memes
• Words coined in the 2000s
• Brazilian media