“The night of the desperates”: uproar in Central Penitentiary in Porto Alegre

Abstract

By describing the intense journalistic coverage of a penitentiary insurrection which took place in the city of Porto Alegre in July 1994, this paper discusses the contradictions and ambiguities which constitute the discourse on crime. It also shows the unequal relationships established among criminals, the police, political representatives, the elite, journalists, the state executive power, victims, and the city. In short, this article explains the logic that characterizes the relationship between a criminal manifestation and its reporting in printed journals. The press withdraws from the simple informative description of facts, since subjectivity is one of its major characteristics which regulate the journalistic text construction.