O acontecimento e seus públicos: um estudo de caso

Abstract

In 2005, Fernanda Karina Sommagio, former secretary of businessman Marcos Valério, became notorious by denouncing his ex-boss’s supposed connections with the ‘‘Mensalão’’ corruption scheme. The analysis presented in this article revolves around two conceptual cores: a) the notion of event, portrayed here as a meaning displacement that triggers an action reorientation; b) the concept of public, presented here as a collective characterized by the experience of the event and by the engagement in action. In our research, we have analyzed stories published in TV and press, and we have done some focal groups, in order to apprehend the midiatic construction of the event Fernanda Karina, as well as the nature of the reactions of the publics affected by the case.