Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines

Nº 58 | OTOÑO 2022 ISSN: 1139-1979 | E-ISSN: 1988-5733 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 179-197 Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Espectacularización en los medios impresos: análisis de revistas radiales especializadas Antonio Adami Paulista University | Street Dr. Bacellar, 1212, 04026-002 São Paulo-SP, Brazil 0000-0002-5524-0672 · [email protected] Lúcia Moreira Dias Paulista University | Street Dr. Becellar, 1212, 04026-002 São Paulo-SP, Brazil 0000-0003-3127-3899 · [email protected] Fechas: Recepción: 24/08/2022. Aceptación: 16/09/2022. Publicación: 15/10/2022 Abstract The article aims to analyze the spectacularization in radio magazines in Brazil in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. With this theoretical basis, the qualitative method was used for data collection, due to its characteristics that fit the theme of work of historical rescue of communication, particularly of the printed medium. We opted for qualitative research because it has unique steps in data analysis and makes use of different research strategies. Qualitative procedures show different perspectives and we think about the media effects in this context. The research was carried out at the Museu da Imagem e do Som, Arquivo Público and Biblioteca Mário de Andrade in São Paulo and also at the National Library of Rio de Janeiro, among other centers. The research problem lies in the effects that this type of production causes on society and as a result we conclude that the magazines were improving in editorial quality but, with a central focus on showbiz and the market, it led to the trivialization of culture, the generalization of frivolity and the scandalous journalism, which unfortunately persists in the media to this day. The research contributed to the understanding that radio and magazines, where one is a vector of growth of the other, were being built for the spectacularization in society and this at various times has shown to have very dark effects, as it transformed, for example, the political discussion into entertainment and journalism in irresponsibility. Keywords: magazines, radio, spectacularization, communication history, culture. Resumen El artículo tiene como objetivo analizar la espectacularización en las revistas de radio en Brasil en las décadas de 1920, 1930, 1940 y 1950. Con esa base teórica, se utilizó el método cualitativo para la recolección de datos, por sus características que se encuadran en la temática de trabajo de rescate histórico de la comunicación, particularmente del medio impreso. Optamos por la investigación cualitativa porque tiene pasos únicos en el análisis de datos y hace uso de diferentes estrategias de investigación. Los procedimientos cualitativos muestran diferentes perspectivas y pensamos en los efectos de los medios en este contexto. La investigación se llevó a cabo en el Museu da Imagem e do Som, Arquivo Público y Biblioteca Mário de Andrade en São Paulo y también en la Biblioteca Nacional de Río Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 180 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 de Janeiro, entre otros centros. El problema de investigación radica en los efectos que este tipo de producción provoca en la sociedad y como resultado concluimos que las revistas iban mejorando en calidad editorial pero, con un enfoque central en la farándula y el mercado, llevó a la banalización de la cultura, la generalización de la frivolidad y el periodismo escandaloso, que lamentablemente persiste en los medios hasta el día de hoy. La investigación contribuyó a comprender que la radio y las revistas, donde una es vector de crecimiento de la otra, se estaban construyendo para la espectacularización de la sociedad y esto en varios momentos ha demostrado tener efectos muy oscuros, pues transformó, por ejemplo, la discusión política en entretenimiento y el periodismo en irresponsabilidad. Palabras clave: revistas, radio, espectacularización, historia de la comunicación, cultura. 1. Introduction: object analysis and problem statement this article is the result of studies that aim to deepen knowledge about specialized radio magazines in Brazil and the historical trend that both these magazines and the broadcasters have consecrated and insist on perpetuating, that is, the spectacularization. To better understand this whole process, which is our research objective, we will analyze the most important specialized radio magazines in Brazil in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. It is worth mentioning that in this article we use the verbs in the present tense, as an update to the text.. It is a discursive and stylistic resource in the sense that the history of radio and magazines is perpetuated. As an objective, therefore, we are interested in deepening our knowledge about the field of spectacularization, analyzing specialized magazines, which become vectors for the growth of broadcasters, and vice versa; we intend to analyze the evolutionary path of sensationalist content and how the spectacularization process takes place, as well as the effects that this type of production causes on society, understanding here ‘effects on society’ “...the drastic consequences that lead to the trivialization of culture, generalization of frivolity, proliferation of irresponsible journalism, gossip and scandal” (Llosa, 2013, p. 30). Spectacularization is present in print and sound, hence the analysis of magazine covers. We then seek to answer these questions as the central problem of the research. Among other factors, the research is justified because there is very little scientific material published on the topic, which could be useful for other researchers, serving as a source for future work by those interested in the field. We therefore believe that further studies on these characteristics of Brazilian magazines and radio, which dialogue with each other, can fill a research gap in the history of media and communication in Brazil, hence, in our view, its scientific and social relevance. Considering the evolution of radio as a mass medium and, consequently, the growth of broadcasters in Brazil, especially in the 1930s, and also considering the authorization of advertising production on radio by the Brazilian State, and this occurs with Decree-Law n. 21,111, of March 1, 1932, in which President Getúlio Vargas authorizes and regulates radio advertising, these issues make magazines gain greater investment for their production, but, for better or worse, this production is practically directed to entertainment under the bias of spectacularization. This is our central theoretical question. Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 181 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 We opted for qualitative research because it has unique steps in data analysis and makes use of different research strategies. Qualitative procedures show different perspectives and we intend to deepen knowledge about spectacularization and how it occurs in magazines, which, in turn, are vectors for the success of radio stations and these, vectors of success for the magazines themselves. Qualitative research is interpretive and flows throughout the research process itself. According to Creswell: Qualitative research is interpretive research, with the investigator typically engaged in a sustained and intensive experience with the participants. This introduces a number of strategic, ethical and personal issues to the qualitative research process (Locke etal.,). With these concerns in mind, researchers explicitly and reflexively identify their biases, values, and personal origins, such as gender, history, culture, and socioeconomic status, which may shape their interpretations during a study. (2010, p. 211) The research was carried out at the Museu da Imagem e do Som, Arquivo Público and Biblioteca Mário de Andrade in São Paulo and also at the National Library of Rio de Janeiro, among other centers. As for the research method, we developed it within a theoretical framework, according to the instruments and methodological procedures we adopted, seeking to collate different sources of information acquired through interviews, reading articles, books and chapters, as well as access to theses and dissertations. about the subject. About the research carried out from interviews, Alberti writes: The choice of interviewees should not be guided predominantly by quantitative criteria, by a concern with sampling, but by the position of the interviewee in the group, by the meaning of their experience. Thus, in the first place, it is advisable to select the interviewees among those who participated, lived, witnessed or learned about occurrences or situations related to the topic and who can provide significant testimonies. The process of selecting the interviewees in an oral history research is, therefore, similar to the choice of “informants”, in anthropology, taken not as statistical units, but as qualitative units – due to their relationship with the subject studied – their strategic role, your position in the group, etc. (2013, p. 85-89) We believe that it is the responsibility of the researcher to be constantly concerned with the veracity of his findings and to seek originality, thus, in order to follow the objectives proposed in this research, the bibliography and the interviews are fundamental. The literature used is based on works on the history of Brazilian radio and on spectacularization and its insertion in culture, in social mediation. Among other works analyzed, we cite Cantero’s book; Comegno (2013), The São Paulo radio dynasty; Amado y Ferreira (2006) Oral History Methodology; Saroldi; Moreira (2005), Rádio Nacional: Brazil in Tune; D’Ângelo (2013), The Intellectuals, radio magazines and popular music in Brazil: the written radio – 1924-1954; Debord (1997), The society of the spectacle: comments on the society of the spectacle; Vargas Llosa (2013), The civilization of the spectacle. We also analyzed specialized radio journals from the years cited in the research. It is worth clarifying that, when we work with the history of radio, we adopt specific theoretical and methodological criteria, as we believe that interviews are fundamental, requiring theoretical foundations, strategies and precise directions for their development. In our case, we interviewed four experts on the subject, Professor Eduardo Paiva (2018), Professor João Batista de Abreu Junior (2017), Mário Fannuchi (2014) and Pedro Serico Vaz (2020), who helped us in the field clarifications. Our criteria for choosing these interviewees was Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 182 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 based on the fact that these researchers have proven experience and knowledge about the history of Brazilian radio and about specialized radio magazines, including doctoral theses, articles and books written on the subject. In addition, Professor Mário Fannuchi, Pedro Vaz and Eduardo Paiva have extensive experience as producers and directors of Brazilian broadcasters and authors of important cultural projects in the field of research. Professor Paiva, for example, was one of the creators of UNICAMP’s webradio; Professor Fannuchi directed several stations, including Cultura, from Fundação Padre Anchieta and professor Pedro Vaz directed Rádio Gazeta, from Fundação Cásper Líbero, where the oldest journalism course in São Paulo and Brazil is located. The interviews were semi-structured, carried out in person, with very clear objectives, that is, to deepen knowledge about the spectacularization of radio and specialized radio magazines. We did not take them to a laboratory, as is common in quantitative research, and we did not send any instruments to be filled in, but meetings for direct conversations with people, which greatly enriched the research, due to greater face-to-face interaction. Regarding the documents, they were also collected personally by these authors and, as is common in qualitative research, we work with multiple forms of data, thus, we ended up creating our own standards for collection: search in databases, access to audios from the decades worked, from older stations, searches in newspaper libraries for access to magazines, access to private collections, including Pedro Vaz, which has a rich collection of magazines from the decades worked. We were also able to count on the photographer Patrícia Crispim, in addition to the author of this article. The collected data were treated within a pre-established plan, with greater or lesser relation to the research topic. The photos were also taken in a professional studio at Universidade Paulista and those that had greater representation within the research theme were chosen for the article. All these elements, part of the methodology, were treated within a qualitative research, that is, we worked in a form of interpretive investigation of the data, where we could make interpretations of what we saw, heard and understood. 2. The specialized publications at the beginning of radio Radio in Brazil already starts as a popular medium and since its emergence in 1922, when anthropologist Edgard Roquette-Pinto founds Radio Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro, officially the first broadcaster, radio has been playing an important role as a cultural, social and political mediator in Brazil, enabling debates, exposing themes and practical and fast themes solutions, characteristic of radio language. About the beginning of radio, there are some controversies that the academy has dealt with and evolved gradually and satisfactorily, from the point of view of the history of the medium. In fact, there is no unanimity among the authors about the emergence of radio in Brazil. What is in the public domain is that between 1893 and 1894, the Brazilian Priest Landell de Moura, performs wireless Telegraphy transmissions through radio sets in the capital and interior of São Paulo. However, the Italian Guglielmo Marconi is actually the inventor of the first system for wireless telegraphs. The broadcast would have taken place in the English Channel in 1899. In Brazil, for Calabre (2002), Westinghouse Eletric is the first official radio broadcast in 1922, strategically made in the Independence Centenary, when President Epitácio Pessoa inaugurates it. The success in the press of the first broadcasts, results in the foundation of the first Brazilian radio station, on September 7, 1922, conducted by Roquete-Pinto and Henrique Morize, the PRA-2 Rádio Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro. However, the radio only gets to operate, on April 30, 1923, with a transmitter given by Casa Pekan, from Buenos Aires, installed in the Escola Politécnica, in the federal capital at the Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 183 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 time. However, the radio host and professor Maranhão Filho (1991), writes in the work Memória do Rádio, that Rádio Clube de Pernambuco is considered the pioneer broadcaster in Brazil. Professor Maranhão documents that the foundation of Rádio Clube de Pernambuco is registered by the now defunct Jornal do Recife the day after its creation, on April 7, 1919. Finally, these matters on the subject seem clear to us. As for the power of the radio message, it is clear that, since its emergence, the radio represents a means that welcomes listeners of any cultural level or social class, for example, in times of strong political conflicts as in Brazil today, radio becomes fundamental, with fast and real-time information, because it is a reliable source about what really happens in the country, being present in real time. With the proliferation of fake news on the Internet, radio is a massive means of trust, as regardless of political positioning, listeners can draw their conclusions about what happens in the country because the broadcasters, as a source of information, have identity: they have a name and address. In the context of the 1920s, simultaneously with the emergence of the first radio broadcasts, a set of specialized publications is born, which are the pioneering radio magazines. Created by the main national broadcasters, they initially seek to transmit the activities of the pioneer broadcasters and technological innovations. Later, these magazines become vectors of the broadcasters growth, part of the groups of communication companies that started forming, acting in both print and electronic media. At that moment, according to D’Ângelo (2013, p. 3), various titles of magazines are launched, seeking regulate radio under literate culture parameters, especially in the Rio-São Paulo axis. Among these magazines, we mention: The Radio (1923), Electron (1926), Rádio Phono (1929) and Cine Rádio Jornal (1930). D’Ângelo writes: Among the most important journals consulted are Voz do Rádio (1935-36) and Radiocultura (1928-29) because they are periodicals coordinated by editors and collaborators who had strong links with the first experiences of broadcasting and that in the 1930s began to perform governmental functions or gave space on their pages for members of the federal government. We can conclude that these were journals that sought to assert themselves in the radio environment as spokespersons of a supposed national and educational radio, as opposed to commercial irradiation or directed to popular “entertainment”. In addition to these, several titles were launched that reinforce such attempts to format and regulate radio under literate culture parameters, particularly the Rio-São Paulo axis, such as: O Rádio- 1910; Radio Phono – 1929; Radio Jornal – 1931; Radio Revista – 1933; Rádio Horário Brasil- 1940. (D’Ângelo, 2013, p. 3) The first journals initially intend to satisfy the informative interest of the first radio amateurs, and their editorial content presents, as mentioned above, mainly subjects related to technical and scientific broadcasting. As they are launched at a time when the Brazilian scientific community is dedicated to creating conditions for the institutionalization of research in the country, its editors have the purpose of impressing decision makers, especially the literate elite, to boost science, but this is not historically effective until the 1930s, with the evolution of the radio as a mass vehicle, the growth of broadcasters in Brazil and the authorization of radio advertising by President Getúlio Vargas, through Decree N. 21.111, magazines receive greater investment and are strongly directed to “entertainment”, being relevant as mediators of popular culture, through the popular music Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 184 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 production exhibition, commercial advertisements of popular appeal products and photographs and gossip about the lives of radio artists (D’Ângelo 2013). It is from this period that we can identify in the pioneering radio magazines what would occur in the following decades, that is, the popular characteristic of the medium, where the concern is the spectacle, including the informative production. There was emerging what we would see many years ahead, mass communication being basically entertainment and spectacularization. 3. Specialized magazines, radio and spectacularization The French sociologist Guy Debord, in 1967, together with other theorists of the International Situationist, artistic and political movement, founded in Italy in 1957, formulated the Theory of Spectacle, which since then has been influencing contemporary theories about society and culture. With a radical criticism of capitalism, Debord is opposed to any type of image that leads the human being to passivity and to the construction of consumption needs. According to the author, “The show is not a set of images, but a social relationship between people mediated by images” (Debord, 1997, p. 14). It is through the mediation of images and messages from the media that individuals live in a world driven by appearances and permanent consumption of facts, news, products and goods, departing from life events reality. In this sense, it can be affirmed that the media has presented continuous evolution in the way of highlighting the contents, appropriating spectacularization characteristics, which is today a communication strategy of all media, including the journalism grid of the broadcasters, with similar strategies to great shows, as a way to captivate the attention of the public. The media spectacularization can also be evidenced in the coverage of public events, such as scandals in politics, demonstrations, sports celebrations, catastrophes or celebrities’ deaths, for example, the tragic death of TV presenter Gugu Liberato, which occurred on 11/21/2019. In this aspect Weber (2011) points out that for a public event to become a media spectacle, it must be profitable from the symbolic, political and economic point of view, according to the ideas of Debord (1997), that capital values dictate the norms of information consumption. Two successive and rival types of spectacle are defined by Debord, the concentrated and the diffuse. The first highlights an ideology centered around a dictatorial character, present in bureaucratic capitalism and related to totalitarian regimes; the second encourages wage earners to choose between a large supply of goods, distorting the impression of the power of choice, typic of the most democratic regimes. With the combination of the two forms, the integrated spectacular is constituted, which brings concentrate and diffuse characteristics together. On the concentrated side, the center director is hidden, there is no longer a boss with a clear ideology, and on the diffuse side, the spectacular influence has never emphasized so much all the behaviors and objects produced socially. The final meaning of the integrated spectacular is the fact that it is confused with all reality by radiating it, “there is nothing in culture and nature that has not been transformed and polluted according to the means and interests of modern industry” (Debord, 1997, p. 173). Analyzing the issue of the spectacle related to culture, Vargas Llosa (2013, p. 29-31), states in A civilização do espetáculo, that culture acts in the contemporary world as a mechanism of distraction and entertainment. For the author, culture is away from reflection, the reader seeks easy and instant pleasures that immunize him/her against concern and responsibility. In Llosa’s point of view, this reader who departs from critical thinking, from real information, belongs to a civilization in which a set of images and textual content, often superficial, are dominant. Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 185 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 It is the civilization of a world where the first place in the current ranking of values is occupied by entertainment, where having fun, escaping boredom, is the universal passion. This ideal of life is perfectly legitimate, no doubt. Only a puritanical fanatic would disapprove members of a society who would want to ease off, relax, have a laugh and fun to lives usually framed in depressing and sometimes idiotic routines. But turning this natural propensity to have fun into supreme value has unexpected consequences: trivialization of culture, generalization of frivolity and, in the information field, the proliferation of irresponsible journalism, gossip and scandal (Vargas Llosa, 2013, p. 29-31). The influence of the spectacle civilization in journalism is clear observing that, in the field of information, the news becomes relevant or secondary not so much for its economic, political, cultural and social significance, but “for its novelty character, surprising, unusual, scandalous and spectacular” (Vargas Llosa, 2013, p. 47-48). In this respect, in the printed media, more specifically in magazines, it can be ascertained that the achievements of large audiences in contemporary society refer to “celebrity magazines”. In Llosa’s point of view, these publications are: “[...] the only ones that, with its million-dollar editions, belies the axiom that in our time printed journalism is shrinking and receding before the audiovisual and digital competence”. This is the case of ¡Hola! magazine, Spanish version of the Brazilian publication Caras, which is translated into eleven languages and browsed through by millions of readers, among them, being from Canada and England. These publications supported by the “spectacular” feature content that often invades the private lives of artists and famous people, to satisfy an audience that is avid for scandals that dig the intimacy of the famous, show their weaknesses and plots and turn them into the buffoons of the great farce that is public life. In this indifference between the private and the public, the intimate and what is exposed, it is not perceived where the truth is, all events that generate interest for the reader are allowed, “what is never punished becomes allowed. It is therefore archaism to speak of scandal” (Debord, 1997, p.184). Debord and Llosa have in common the constant criticism of the role of entertainment in human life, which causes many people to become characters in a show but differ in the way society is characterized. While Debord proposed a revolutionary action against this state of things, Llosa has a particular point of view on modern society, perceiving it as alienated and spectacular, failing to believe in actions that can reverse the current situation. By this means, it can be considered that radio magazines, from the 1930s, are precursors of publications focused on the artists’ personal lives, where the spetacular must be evidenced to attend a reader who seeks the pleasures of fun and entertainment. Below we present an overview of publications in the 1920s to 1950s and perform analyses of these pioneering radio publications and how they evolved and acquired characteristics of spectacularization. 4. The 1920s and the technicality in the first magazines Revista do Radio, a journal of scientific dissemination (picture 1) is officially launched in the publishing market on October 15, 1923 by the “father of Brazilian broadcasting”, Edgard Roquette-Pinto, being considered as official organ of Rádio Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro and later of Rádio Clube de Pernambuco, Rádio Clube Cearense and da Rádio Sociedade da Bahia. With biweekly frequency, later bimonthly, and Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 186 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 containing 48 pages, disseminates in its editorial content reports on Rádio Sociedade, technical and scientific issues related to the environment, as well as comments on Brazilian radio legislation, as well as articles that are translated from foreign magazines related to the theme, remembering that in Europe there is also the birth of radio, which goes through needs and processes close to the Brazilian reality, we were able to make these comparative approaches from the analysis of Spanish journals, an article cited at the beginning of this text. Therefore, in this period Revista do Radio is distributed to associates and also marketed in points of sale located in different Brazilian states. The magazine circulates until 1926, when Electron is born, also conceived by Roquette-Pinto. Picture 1 Cover of Revista do Rádio Edition 16. June 1924. Source: https://bit.ly/3E5DdgO. Accessed on: Jan. 10, 2017. Picture 2 Radio magazine page Presenting the new building of Rádio Sociedade in Rio de Janeiro. Issue no. 16, jun. 1924. Source: https://bit.ly/3dTvLe4. Accessed on: Jan. 10, 2017. Also launched in the 1920s, Electron magazine has 20 pages and bimonthly periodicity. From number 14, it becomes the official organ of Rádio Mayrink Veiga. Many of its covers, of various colors, bring the cove of Botafogo beach, in Rio de Janeiro (Picture 3). In its editorial content, in addition to addressing topics of interest to the members of the station, such as balance sheet of activities, it discloses the network’s programming and more extensive articles related to the radio, as an instrument to democratize knowledge. There is a permanent concern to disseminate basic information about national radio and about the setting and operation of equipment, radio equipment and home circuits, through drawings and technical schemes, as can be seen in Picture 4. Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 187 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 Picture 3 Cover of Electron magazine Illustration of Botafogo beach cove, in Rio de Janeiro. Edition no. 3, 1926. Source:<http:// blog.novaeletronica.com.br/revistaelectron-o-que-acontecia-na-eletronica- em-1926>. Accessed eon: Feb.02, 2017. Picture 4 Electron magazine page Edition No. 3, 1926. Source: http:// blog. novaeletronica.com.br/revista-electron- o-que-acontecia-na-eletronica-em-1926. Accessed on: June 23, 2016. 5. 1930s: magazines as vectors at the heyday of radio The 1930s, known as the heyday of radio as a means of mass, is marked by historical facts, particularly in politics, which influenced the evolution of radio magazines. As we said above, with the authorization of radio advertising by President Getúlio Vargas in 1932, it becomes possible to raise resources, which triggers the growth of broadcasters in Brazil, consequently, the increase of programming production and quality, by hiring professionals and artists of the Brazilian music and specialized technicians with exclusivity. With their careers driven by the dissemination in the radio, these artists start to appear in the photos and news published in the radio magazines. In addition, in 1937 the PRG-3 Rádio Tupi, belonging to Diários Associados, in Rio de Janeiro, created a contest to elect the first Brazilian Radio Queen (Cantero; Comegno, 2013), a fact that has repercussions in the magazines and boosts greater investment in its production for the dissemination of the contest which, in fact, from that year starts to be held annually. In 1935, Carioca magazine is published by the journalistic company A Noite, which inaugurates Radio Nacional the following year in Rio de Janeiro. The company, owner of the station, is nationalized by the Vargas government in 1940 (Vaz Filho, 2009). With 63 pages, in the size 20 x 27 cm, Carioca magazine presents several sections on the radio, among them there is a section dedicated to listeners “What the radio listeners think”, as well as sections that address the interpretations of dreams, curiosities, tales, sports, current affairs, humor, fashion, history and crossword puzzles. The cover of each edition, most of the time is illustrated with the photo of a famous radio artist (Picture 5). As we can see, the magazine promotes radio, which in turn promotes the magazine. In its editorial content, reports on singers, artists, broadcasters and animators, also disseminates awards, events and special programs of radio, through a set of images representative of the society Picture 5 Cover of Carioca magazine Photo by singer Ester de Abreu. Edition no. 178, 18 mar. 1939. Source: private collection of researcher Pedro Vaz. Reproduction made by researcher Lúcia Moreira Dias, in October and November 2016. Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 194 ÁMBITOS. REVISTA INTERNACIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN · Nº 58 · OTOÑO 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2022.i58.09 · ISSN: 1139-1979 · E-ISSN: 1988-5733 179-197 author, in total opposition to the elitist and hermetic avant-garde, the mass culture wants to offer to a wider audience, news that serves for entertainment with the intention of amusing, enabling the easy and accessible evasion to all. The Spectacle civilization would be the one in a world where the most important of life, greater than anything, is entertainment, where having fun and escaping boredom is the universal passion. It is not questioning about living with humor or relaxing before things of life, but questioning a life of culture trivialization, frivolity generalization and, in the field of information, the spectacularization and scandalization of journalism proliferation. Therefore, it is because of radio and its ability to project over listeners and its potential for advertising, that makes communication studies move forward. The new technologies, the population increase, the need to communicate quickly and with more quality and precision, leads to the advancement of the radio environment. Technologies become necessary and slowly also become determinants, to the point of making we think of a today’s new cultural industry, of a “Spectacle Civilization”, a spectacle that began with radio from the 1920s and 1930s, relying on specialized magazines and vice versa. Since the research results are also based on the interviews, here are some answers from the interviewees, given that it was one of the instruments used. Thus, we transcribe here the basis of the speech of the three interviewees for two basic questions of the research, to compose this conclusion. Emphasizing that the interviewees were previously chosen, based on criteria written in the methodology of this article. Question: Do you believe that spectacularization existed from the beginning in radio and how did it happen in specialized radio magazines? Question: What role did specialized magazines play in this spectacularization process? In response to these key questions for the research, both interviewees agree that magazines and radios have always lived from the spectacle and that only technology has changed, but the formats remain practically the same, that is, sex appeal, personal life gossip, exploration of images and audios of interviews. Many did it on the radio and many did it in the magazines, what mattered was sensationalism, often almost vulgar. The great presenter, composer of Brazilian popular music Ary Barroso, was already doing all the sensationalism on the radio. Magazines also did this, for example, in the 1930s, the singer Izaurinha Garcia appears naked playing the guitar, many singers and actresses also appear in bikini, with great sexual appeal. What happens today is that this model is on television, which is always in search of an audience. Sensationalism of all kinds appears in programs by Faustão, Raul Gil, etc. Today this is also taken to social media, to websites, and in the past, it used to go to magazines, hence the great power they had. Social media today play the role of old magazines and radio was fundamental to this whole process. 9. References Alberti, V. (2013). Oral history handbook. FGV Publisher Amado, J. y Ferreira, M. M. (2006) (1996). Uses and abuses of oral history. FGV Publisher Calabre, L. (2002). The radio age. Zahar Spectacularization in the print media: analysis of specialized radio magazines Lúcia Moreira Dias 195 ÁMBITOS. 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Post-doc in Communication at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2010). He is a visiting professor at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and a full professor at Paulista University, São Paulo-Brazil. He is part of the research groups “Analysis of Cultural and Scientific Dissemination in the Media of Social Communication” and “Media, Culture and Memory”. Lúcia Moreira Dias is PhD and Master in Communication at Paulista University. She works as a professor of the FACESM MBA Courses (MG). Researcher at the Media, Culture and Memory Group at UNIP, with research on Radio Magazines in Brazil. She conducts research on famous singers of the 1950s and 1960s.