Marxist Thinking and Journalism Theory in Brazil

Marxist thinking gained political strength in Brazil with the creation of the Brazilian Communist Party in 1922, but it was only in the 1980s that its influence in the academic field became noteworthy. This article aims to reconstruct and analyze the origins and the main ideas related to its intervention in the academic theorization of journalism. Besides the contribution of the pioneer Nelson Werneck Sodré (“the press as a means of political struggle”), we discuss the theses of Perseu Abramo (“journalism as a means of manipulation”), Ciro Marcondes Filho (“news as commodity”) and Adelmo Genro Filho (“journalism as a form of knowledge”). Finally, we question whether the perspectives opened up by the pioneers and their successors still show enough intellectual energy to think critically about journalism in times of interactive digital media.