**2. Methodological instruments**

Since this is a qualitative research, the methodological instrument [7] initially relied on the prediction of a series of procedures and techniques, starting and continuing throughout the course of the work, based on bibliographic research, which was maintained throughout the period of execution. The clipping and storage of all the videographic material comprised another stage of the research, with the definition of a specific week (from May 04 to 09, 2020) for all five TV news programs researched (Jornal Nacional, Jornal da Record, Jornal da Cultura, SBT Brasil, Jornal da Band). As shown in **Table 1** below is a proposal for the interviews. The observation that should have taken place in the newsrooms was done virtually, based on the content displayed and not, as was initially planned, on the production process, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The observation characterized this research, despite the difficulty of framing it in a single style, but it is necessary to consider observation as a type of research based on active interaction between researcher and researched group, "and, mainly, in the conjunction of research with broader processes of social action and collective appropriation of knowledge" [10]. In the case of this research, it can be considered, according to Peruzzo [10] as participant observation, conducted virtually and not *in loco*, emphasizing that specifically the role of the researcher as "autonomous" (emphasis added). The "group" (emphasis added), or any element of the environment, does not interfere in the research, "with regard to the formulation of the objectives and the other phases of the project, nor in the type of information recorded and the

<sup>2</sup> Which was included in the research not by the audience criteria, but for the differential characteristics presented by its telejournalism such as commentary and viewer participation.


#### **Table 1.**

*Interviews conducted – Professionals Journalism.*

interpretations given to what was observed" [10] so that in this way the reliability of the research can be guaranteed and there is no interference from the researched community. Another characteristic proposed by Peruzzo [10] for this type of observation is also aligned with the research proposals, insofar as, "the observer may be "covert" or "revealed," that is, the group may or may not be aware that it is being investigated" [10]. In this stage, a notebook was used, in which the researcher followed a script of topics to be observed in all news programs, such as production time, size of the local team and correspondents, available resources, and work routine, among others, in a virtual way. In the third stage, still within the observation that became nonparticipant and virtual, some interviews were conducted according to the availability of the professionals from the stations. The interview conducted was of the in-depth type [11], with open and closed questions, since "through the in-depth interview, it is possible, for example, to understand how communication products are being perceived by employees, to explain the production of the news in a communication vehicle." ([11], p. 63). According to the model of typologies for conducting interviews, in academic research, proposed by Duarte [11], quantitative and qualitative forms are presented, with unstructured, semi-structured, and structured questions.s open and closed. Also according to the author, the interview can be open, semi-open, and closed, with the use of a central question, a script, or a questionnaire, and use two types of approaches—in-depth and linear. In the case of this research, we opted for the model presented in **Table 2**, based on Duarte's [11] proposals.

The selection of the interviewees followed, according to Duarte [11] by convenience (also known as accidental) because it was based on feasibility, which was found in each of the researched broadcasters, provided that the interviewees are journalists, or involved in the production and distribution of journalistic content. Convenience, "occurs when sources are selected for proximity or availability" ([11], p. 69). The last stage of the research was the tabulation of the data collected through observation and subsequent comparison between the networks and their respective news programs, with respect to the new practices of production and display of content. In the interviews conducted, a new element was included, which was the context of the pandemic of the new coronavirus, where questions were included about how

*New Social Practices on Brazilian TV: Reconfigurations in News Production and Distribution DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113307*


#### **Table 2.**

*Typology model adopted for the research.*

and what adaptations were made due to the process of social isolation, where journalism was considered an essential service to society. This research, of exploratory nature, intended to study, from a methodological complex that basically comprises bibliographic research, virtual ethnographic research, and remote interview, the effects and the changes of paradigms in the field of contemporary TV journalism, which shares with the audiovisual and the textual not only the look and the communicational process but also its own existence.

From the cut of a week from May 04 to 09, 2020, the five TV news programs (Jornal Nacional, Jornal da Record, Jornal da Cultura, Jornal da Band, and SBT Brasil) selected as empirical objects of this research, with observation and virtual analysis of the content, the field research was adapted to the online form, due to the impossibility of being in the newsroom and performing the activities in person.
