Cercados, the documentary: between facts and lies, between press and discourses

Abstract

Abstract In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, the clash and resistance of the press to the attacks and aggression by the deniers was evident. The documentary Cercados, produced by Globoplay, object of analysis of this work, portrays the challenges behind the scenes of the news coverage in the first year of pandemic in Brazil. Supported by concepts of enunciation theory and television studies, this paper aims to reflect on the effects of meaning produced by the audiovisual text and its contribution to critical reflection about the disinformation scenario, as well as the relevance of journalism as an institution of the democratic system. The results indicate that the organization of the discourse, marked by the aesthetics of self-referentiality, allows the enunciatee to enter the universe of journalistic production and identify with the thematic roles played by journalists.