Os reflexos negativos do sensacionalismo midiático nos crimes de ampla repercussão nacional

Abstract

This final paper aims to demonstrate, through the analysis of concrete cases, the power of influence of the media on the actions of State agents in crimes of wide national repercussion, given the post-modern scenario of obtaining information. To this end, it first seeks to describe the existing criminal procedural systems, as well as some constitutional principles, which should guide the application of the Brazilian criminal process. Next, it aims to highlight the change in the way information is consumed in the post-modern era, with the advent of the internet and social networks, that, although be easier and faster, lack regulation, culminating in the dissemination of distorted and biased news, that also incite hatred against those individuals considered “enemies” of society. Once this observation has been made, it will be demonstrated how this scenario interferes in the conduct of the Brazilian criminal process, especially when associated with the constant dissemination of sensationalized and spectacularized reports of crimes and violence, which are responsible for stigmatizing the figure of the social enemy and spreading the feelings of fear and insecurity among the population. Therefore, fearful due to the sensation of increasing crime, population demands that the State create severe criminal laws and adopt more rigorous measures to protect public security, which, pressured by popular opinion, acts irrationally in conducting the process, having as sole purpose the punishment of the accused, to the detriment of compliance with constitutional principles. At last, to confirm the scenario highlighted, cases of wide media repercussion in Brazil will be analyzed, in which the actions of State agents, influenced by the media, culminated in harm to the accused, as well as in the enactment of symbolic and ineffective criminal laws, in response to appeals from the population