Mediatization, polarization, and intolerance (between environments, media, and circulation)

Ana Paula da Rosa 182 made this caveat, we consider here as a case, not a journalistic or a “ready” case (BECKER, 1999), given in advance, but, on the contrary, our case is configured from its central character, which is a mediatized case. As it is not a given case, it is the result of the construction of the researcher; this implies saying that it takes into account our artisanal making and approaches that, at first sight, do not seem possible even in terms of time and space since we deal with two events that are separated geographically and thematically. We are speaking of Aylan Kurdi’s death - a Syrian boy found dead on a beach in Bodrum, Turkey, in 2015. On the other hand, about the death of the boy Marcos Vinicius, a ca- rioca 4 student murdered at favela da Maré 5 , in 2018. Although they are two different facts in terms of con- textual issues, the cut that we bring to this article, given the theme of intolerance and incivility, turns to the strain on the log- ics of image agencement in terms of power. Thus, our empirical object, therefore, our case, consists of two separate events (in time and space), but united by the presence of the child as a vic- tim, by forms of intolerance as to power 6 , and aspects of incivil- ity evidenced in the interactional games, including the right to visibility. In this way, we adopted as a premise of our investiga- tion thatmedia images carry previous ones, a result of discourses and other temporalities, but that present themselves as shadows in our current productions, affecting the modes of recognition, especially their conditions. Based on this consideration, this text proposes to analyze two dynamics of conflict, understood here as dynamics of mediatization, which are quite different in terms of process and logics, but involving common elements: a) media and imaginary images; b) broad circulation; c) social actors and media institutions, and, finally, d) image agencement logics in terms of control/power. These two dynamics will be addressed from the relationship with empiricism. 4 A person from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 5 Favela da Maré is a shantytown in the city of Rio de Janeiro. 6 When we mention forms of intolerance regarding power, we refer to the idea of the south-global axis, an expression we will revisit in this text though not from an economic perspective.