Estilo de comunicação populista digital: o discurso da nova direita no programa O Pingo nos IS

Abstract

This study investigated the digital populist communication style adopted by the new right in Brazil, using as its empirical object the journalistic program Os Pingos nos Is, broadcast by Jovem Pan. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, along with contributions from Letícia Cesarino, Jorge Wink, and Camila Rocha, the research analyzed how the populist rhetoric of the new right manifests in digital environments and contributes to the construction of political antagonisms, emotional mobilization, and disqualification of opponents. The general objective was to understand how the digital populist communication style is configured in the discourse of Os Pingos nos Is, focusing on the 2018 and 2022 elections. The specific objectives were to characterize the rhetorical elements that sustain populist antagonism, map the discursive effects on the audience, and examine the construction of symbolic equivalences between the presenters and the political field of the new right. The methodology consisted of a qualitative case study, based on the construction of an analytical narrative from data collected from 52 selected episodes of Os Pingos nos Is, aired in September and October of the 2018 and 2022 election years. The corpus was subjected to textual analysis using the IRaMuTeQ software, through Descending Hierarchical Classification and Word Cloud generation, enabling observation of the frequency, association, and hierarchy of terms used in the discourses. The data were organized by dominant themes and confronted with literature on digital populism, rhetoric, and technopolitics. The results revealed the constant presence of typical elements of the populist style, such as the dichotomy between people and elite, the intensive use of affective language, the use of memes, irony, and religious analogies, as well as emphasis on internal and external enemies. The analysis of hierarchical classes and word clouds indicated the predominance of expressions related to morality, anti-petismo, institutional delegitimization, and conservative masculinity. A change in the degree of radicalization was also observed between the electoral cycles analyzed, with an intensification of offensive rhetoric in 2022. It is concluded that Os Pingos nos Is functions as a platform for disseminating a digital populist style aligned with the Brazilian new right, articulating rhetorical and technopolitical resources that contribute to the formation of a polarized discursive field. By constructing equivalences between presenters, political figures, and conservative values, the mobilized discourse fosters affective identification and ideological adherence from an audience amplified through digital networks.