From guardian of democracy to enemy of the people’s freedom:

public image of the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral on the news of the website Terça Livre

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the public image of the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) elaborated in the articles about printed paper votes published by the website Terça Livre, which is entitled as a conservative journalism. In this regard, it has undertaken theoretical discussions on media and politics, from authors such as Miguel (2008), Souza (1988), Lycarião, Magalhães and Albuquerque (2018), among others; and on public image in the media, from the perspective of studies by Noleto Filho (2014) and Gomes (2004). Using as method a qualitative perspective based on Bardin’s ideas (2002), the investigation identified that the public TSE image engendered in the coverage by the website Terça Livre contains a negative character, characterizing the court as an institution considered inefficient, enemy of democracy and contrary to the freedom to vote of the population.