The effects of the pandemic on the public image of the judiciary based on journalistic coverage

Abstract

This article seeks to understand how the public image of the Judiciary was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in press. For this reason, three key terms are used, “judicial activism”, “judicialization” and “brazilian judiciary” in the search for news in two newspapers of wide national circulation. Starting from an analysis carried out for the previous twelve months to the pandemic and in its first twelve months, the objectives were to learn from newspapers: i) the conception of the terms “judicial activism” and “judicialization”; ii) the valuation of judicial action; iii) the thematic framing of the news. The results of the analysis of content and thematic framing suggest a judicialization as a forwarding of agendas to a State Power; a judicial activism as a synonym for the usurpation of a power that does not belong to it. The public image of the Judiciary built from the media is quite negative and critical of the judicial system. Criticism was directed at specific decisions, indicating a lack of specific support. This approval is concerned with the importance of the Judiciary for democracy, pointing to the existence of diffuse support. It demonstrates the breaking of the movement that promotes judicial legitimacy, motivated by media coverage that erases the differences between the political and judicial spheres.