Efemérides da morte de figuras públicas na imprensa: o tempo como cabide noticioso

Abstract

Ephemeris of the death of public figures in the press: time as a news peg

Death encompasses several rites and rituals, including the preservation of the deceased's memory. Pondering media as spaces that can enhance this memory, and grounded on the idea of time as a news peg held by Nelson Traquina (2002), we proposed to analyze the coverage of the anniversaries of the death of 20 Portuguese public figures, who died between 1970 and 2014, in the newspapers Correio da Manhã, Diário de Notícias and Jornal de Notícias. The analysis of editorial differences in relation to these events showed that the death of a certain public figure is not always the element that triggers the memory, as, sometimes, there is a parallel event that coincides with the anniversary of the death and that anchors the newspaper's approach. In parallel with the work of Fernando Catroga (1999), we conclude, therefore, that the commemoration of death aims, in some cases, to remember the deceased personality, but in certain circumstances it gives more importance to current news and to the reintroduction of that event in terms of its meaning in the present and future life.