The publications were released internationally by Routledge
Otávio Daros is a researcher at the PUCRS Graduate Program in Communication. / Photo: Publicity
Otávio Daros, a student at the PUCRS Graduate Program in Communication (PPGCOM) recently published two books that are a result of his research. The first, Writing Journalism History: The Press and Academia in Brazil, is a result of his PhD, and the second, History of Brazilian Journalism: From Print to Digital, is the outcome of his postdoctoral research funded by the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (Capes) PrInt. The books were published by Routledge from London and New York, respectively.
Otávio explains that his thesis book, Writing Journalism History, can be called a history of historiography, in this case, about the press and journalism in Brazil. The researcher studied the origins and development of production of historical knowledge on the press and journalism in the country. The research considered the before and after the existence of university institutions, before and after the creation of graduate programs, until today.
In this sense, Otávio’s research aimed to answer the following questions: who were the first Brazilian press researchers, or the first journalism historians in our country? Which narratives were presented over time and how do they relate to social context, political projects of our country?
“These questions required me to read and analyze hundreds of publications from the last 150 years, and have been answered in the book Writing Journalism History: The Press and Academia in Brazil, published as part of the Routledge Studies in the History of the Americas series, by New York’s Routledge. In Brazil, the book was edited by Insular, with a three-decade tradition in publishing research in journalism and similar fields. Both editions are the outcome of my PhD at PUCRS, in a joint supervision and dual degree arrangement with Nottingham Trent University, in England”.
Otávio emphasizes that nowadays there is great concern regarding the feminization of science. And, in this sense, he says one of the most interesting sociological aspects of his research is the possibility of highlighting the emergence of the first female press researchers and historians in the country, until the moment when they began occupying a leading role.
“However, my research takes a step further, in the sense of not only focusing on the journey of those who produce knowledge but also on knowledge itself, that is, on the content and meaning of the contributions presented over time. Therefore, this is a work of historiographical critique, based on the analysis of works published over the last 150 years by researchers from different regions in Brazil.”
After completing his PhD at PPGCOM, Otávio spent some time as a visiting researcher at the Chair of Communication History at Freie Universität Berlin, in Germany. He then returned to PUCRS for CAPES PrInt, the Institutional Program of Internationalization. This first postdoctoral research aimed to contribute to the internationalization of the Graduate Program in Communication at PUCRS. This exchange took place more in the sense of strengthening academic publications in Humanities and Applied Social Sciences.
“Many international journals referred to as ‘high impact,’ especially in the Humanities and Applied Social Sciences, still do not have a tradition of publishing authors from Brazil and other countries from what we now call the Global South, due to countless reasons and challenges. In the field of Communication, one of these cases was the journal called Communication Theory, maintained by the International Communication Association in partnership with Oxford University Press, which features some of the leading
figures in the field. My article as a PPGCOM researcher in this journal is titled What is the history of communication? and it addresses what is understood by “history of communication” and what is effectively developed in terms of research on the theme around the world. To answer this question, I analyzed dozens of works published by authors from different nationalities and at different times.”
Otávio recalls that the postdoctoral period coincided with another special invitation, from British historian James Curran, professor at Goldsmiths, University of London, one of the most relevant names for media scholars. The invitation was to present a new book and add it to the series he edits called Routledge Focus on Communication and Society.
“So, I challenged myself to write a synthesis book on the phases and trends of Brazilian journalism, from its inception to the contemporary period, with the aim of serving as an introduction for the international reader. The work combined bibliographic and documentary research, based on newspapers, magazines, and other primary sources. The result was titled History of Brazilian Journalism: From Print to Digital, and was published by London’s Routledge.”
Since he began his postdoctoral research at PUCRS, Otávio Daros works as a professor with the Graduate Program in Communication and assistant editor of the Famecos Journal, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, as is the Graduate Program.
“As a professor, I strived to bring the topics explored in both research projects into the classroom. The seminar-style course brought together doctoral students from PUCRS as well as the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS),” he summarizes.
After completing his first PhD, Otávio was awarded a new research fellowship, this time by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). The new project aims to expand the scope of study from Brazil to Latin America. Otávio has already began visiting universities in Uruguay for his research.
“In my visits to universities, I will gather materials for the development of the research, as well as seek to build partnerships with colleagues involved in other university contexts. Internationalization is not only a study topic but a challenge for the very execution of a transactional project such as this,” he concludes.
