Symbolic fights in the media arena: the power of agency of Brazilian public prosecution services and the controversies about PEC 37, the “Impunity Bill”

Abstract

This article adopts a sociological perspective to analyze the symbolic fights in the media surrounding controversies related to the “PEC 37” constitutional amendment, which prohibits the Ministério Público (Public Prosecution Office) from directly conducting criminal investigations. The present work aims to understand how the different actors interested in the subject led the debate on the bill, bringing the matter to the demonstrations that emerged in Brazil in June 2013. The empirical data analyzed include 351 newspaper articles, questionnaires and interviews with members of the Public Prosecution Office at both the national and state levels, as well as with members of the Conselho Nacional do Ministério Público and its unions. The main conclusions indicate that the Public Prosecution’s framing of the so-called “Impunity Bill” prevailed in the press. Despite the counter-arguments of police chiefs and congressional representatives, both the press and public opinion adopted the Prosecution´s point of view, leading to the rejection of the bill in Congress, after protesters in June 2013 included it among their grievances.

Political Sociology; Media discourse; Political controversies; Public Prosecution Office; PEC37