JN fixes some fake news, but doesn’t stop Bolsonaro from repeating lies

In a softer tone from the 2018 interview, William Bonner and Renata Vasconcellos managed to draw attention to the different lies told by Jair Bolsonaro (PL) by this Monday’s “Jornal Nacional” (22). But trying not to appear offensive, they allowed countless other fake news stories that the president repeated in public demonstrations.

The president, who is running for reelection, has faced fierce opposition at times, but has shown control and avoided more aggressive demonstrations, as he did four years ago.

The long-awaited president’s meeting with the hosts of Jornal Nacional may have disappointed those who expected war. There were moments of irony on both sides, but no more tense or aggressive passages. All survived.

In the first ten minutes of the interview, Bonner tried to get a commitment from Bolsonaro that he would respect the election result without reservation. Defective. The president said he would respect the elections as long as they were “clean”.

Renata persistently sought confirmation from Bolsonaro that she showed no mercy for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic, but was unsuccessful. The president freely repeated lies about “early treatment” and “isolation.”

While it is far from me wanting to teach the sacrament to the priest, the JN team could have tried to confront Bolsonaro with simpler and more objective questions. He also propagated fake news from time to time by impersonating the president.

Bonner was initially very good when he remembered, on the return of a response, that Bolsonaro had not told the truth while denying that he had cursed the ministers of the STF or TSE. The president described Minister Alexandre de Moraes as “despicable”, the presenter recalled.

This stance was not repeated at other times. Using the language of football, it was necessary to apply to the VAR to check if Bolsonaro was telling the truth.

interview series

In 2002, Jornal Nacional (JN) first introduced interviews with main candidates for the presidency on the television news bank. Interviews at the series premiere were 10 minutes long. The duration was increased to 12 minutes in 2010 and 15 minutes in 2014. In 2018, the duration was planned to be 25 minutes, but after the first meeting with Ciro Gomes, it was increased to 27 minutes.

In 2006 and 2014, respectively, when Lula and Dilma ran for re-election, the JN hosts traveled to Brasília to interview them. Globo decided not to do that anymore and conditioned Bolsonaro’s 2022 interview to his presence at the studio in Rio. After initial hesitation, the president bowed to the publisher’s request.

Two more innovations mark this new round of JN interviews. First, the duration of the meetings was extended again, this time to 40 minutes. A really long time. Second, the network relayed the interviews to Estúdios Globo in Curicica, but kept its news broadcast base in Jardim Botânico. In other words, JN opened with Ana Paula Araujo and Helter Duarte in the traditional studio and was responsible for calling Bonner and Renata in the other place, reinforcing the impression that the interview was an isolated frame from the rest of the news.

2018 interview

In 2018, Bolsonaro was a federal lawmaker in his seventh term and had nothing to show for it, but outrageous statements on a broad curriculum. He followed the practice that Roger Stone taught Donald Trump: turning the political debate into a spectacle that stirs up disinformation and anger. One of Stone’s mantras was, “Do you think uninformed voters know the difference between entertainment and politics?”

Bonner and Renata adhered to the format of “debating the controversial issues of the nominations”, raising the ball for Bolsonaro to reaffirm his point of view on all issues that caused public shock and outrage, but which was music. ears of the majority of voters. After all, there is nothing easier than pre-training with consultants’ responses to “controversial issues.”

Awarded for the presenters’ creativity, the nominee reached out and rolled over, facing personal issues (pejotization, Renata’s salary, Bonner’s marriage, and exposure to violence) that could embarrass the duo. He also found space to talk about Globo’s support for the 1964 military coup, ignoring the fact that the company had already admitted that the position was a mistake.

A better way in 2018 would be to question Bolsonaro’s government plans, the candidate’s ideas on how to solve certain problems in the areas of economic and social policy. It would be a way to gauge the extent of their knowledge of the country. For better or for worse, if we went that way, I don’t think he’d have the opportunity to do the show he was doing at the time.