Digressions: journalism and its methodological challenges

Abstract

LAGO, C.; BENETTI, M. (Org.) (2007). Metodologia de pesquisa em jornalismo. Petrópolis: Vozes. 286 p. Digressions: journalism and its methodological challenges — This review of the book Metodologia de pesquisa em Jornalismo (Methodology of Research into Journalism), organized by Lago e Benetti, ponders the issue of methodology in the field of Journalism based on the premise from which its organizers work, i.e., that every research work, implying as it does the construction of theories and the search for methodologies suited to our purposes, requires an epistemological attitude. We start from the principle that there is a paradox, which is revealed by the antinomy between the terms real and discourse, in objects that are constituted of the symbolic but that must, at the same time, follow the laws of reality as reference. From this perspective, we seek to reflect on the way Journalism is seen, pondering about some of the theoretical, epistemological and methodological aspects brought up by the articles collected for the book. This review introduces the reader to the researches presented and their respective approaches, while simultaneously leading him to reflect upon the methodological paths the book reveals.