O fim da exigência do diploma de jornalismo : reflexões sobre o estatuto profissional e a autonomia do campo

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the tensions between the professional status and the autonomy of journalism during the trial of Extraordinary Appeal No. 511,961, at the Federal Supreme Court, in 2009, which determined the end of the mandatory diploma for practicing the profession in Brazil. We used the theory of fields and the underlying concepts of habitus and autonomy to support the discussion from an institutional perspective of journalism, as a social complex of power relations, especially influenced by the political, economic, legal, scientific and cultural fields. The research, therefore, does not only address journalism in its constitution as a field, but also focuses on the tensions related to its institutionalization in the face of external influences. Therefore, the central focus of the investigation is the analysis of the controversy that permeates the dispute over the meanings of journalism, particularly with regard to its institutionality. These contributions also outline a more specific discussion on the relationship between professional qualification and the protection of the community, given the insertion of the notions of objectivity and social function in the field. In this sense, we present a historical overview of the professionalization of journalism in Brazil, in order to contextualize elements of the controversy until this turning point was reached. Methodologically, the statements made during the trial make up the corpus of the research and underwent a content analysis, being categorized into three axes: specificity; qualification; and protection of guarantees. This organization allowed us to identify that representatives from the economic and legal fields, for the most part, pointed out weaknesses in the autonomy of the field in view of its technical and scientific specificities, which, in turn, were decisive in invalidating the legitimacy of the qualification. In view of this, instead of being a form of social and professional protection, the access criterion would be restricting a fundamental guarantee: freedom of expression. The appeal to this right and to freedom of the press, sometimes as indistinct and absolute guarantees, indicated that it was a response to the context in which the norm that required the diploma was enacted, seen as a product of the Brazilian dictatorial regime. Thus, the event demonstrates how journalism can be seen as a complex of power relations, a reflection of a liberal tradition that evokes legitimate forms of social control, in which the ‘fourth power’ is a fundamental axis of support and, as a product of this system, is also surrounded by controversies. The research reveals, therefore, that such tensions are intrinsically linked to the institutionality of the field due to the fragility of its autonomy.