ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the experience of the journalism collective BH nas Ruas during the June Journeys, a wave of political protests that took over Brazil in 2013, and discusses how the practices, formats, genres, and ethos of journalism are reconfigured by the appropriation of mobile medialities (Sheller 2013). The protests initially stood against an increase in public transport fares and were later amplified to include a range of diverse issues. These issues include responsible governmental expenditures, triggered by the budget deficit caused by the sponsorship of mega-events (2014 FIFA World Cup and Rio 2016 Summer Olympics), and a stand against government corruption, defense of social justice, and minority rights. During the June Journeys, the streets and communication networks were occupied by dissatisfied citizens who used smartphones to both record and circulate images of the protests. The independent reporting that occurred during these events prompted the deployment of media activism and mobile journalism tactics by groups such as Mídia NINJA and BH nas Ruas. This chapter demonstrates the contributions of a mobilities perspective to media studies as it decenters the agency of mobile devices in practices of mobile journalism to address how politics of information mobility forge journalism formats and genres.
