Mechanisms of Control and Media Protagonism in Management

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the mechanisms of control and media protagonism in the management of epidemics in order to demonstrate the influence that the media in association with the State and large private corporations exert on human behavior. Theoretical Framework: In this topic, the main concepts and theories that underlie the research are presented. The issue of fear arising from contagion in a scenario of disease outbreaks, aspects of collective behavior and the use of institutional and media control methods are highlighted, providing a solid basis for understanding the context of the investigation. Method: The methodology adopted for this research comprises the survey and selection of journalistic texts containing national and international coverage of outbreaks of contagious diseases to organize the corpus of comparative analysis of the influence on the process of legitimization of prophylaxis, surveillance and control measures. Results and Discussion: The results obtained revealed that the media is established with other possibilities besides surveillance, in which control is something even more present, and its role will be that of control through discourse. In the discussion section, these results are contextualized in the light of the theoretical framework, highlighting the implications and relationships identified. Possible discrepancies and limitations of the study are also considered in this section. Research Implications: The practical and theoretical implications of this research are discussed, providing insights into how the results can be applied or influence practices in the fields of communication and health, in relation to the construction of the media narrative about public health with possible developments in relation to the vaccination campaigns that followed the epidemic and the pandemic that are the objects of this study. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating, in different scenarios separated from each other by a decade, but characterized by the worldwide dissemination of contagious diseases, the performance of the same logic of control and media protagonism. The relevance and value of this research are evidenced by the demonstration of the need for the journalist to perceive in his professional practice the asphyxiating implications arising from the control by the discourse imposed by the media on society.