ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the distribution of information flows and attention. The three theoretical considerations of corruption scandals and informational cascades, framing, and intertextuality provide the background for the sampling strategy and operationalization of the concept of informational cascade deployed. The informational cascade in the media had not just agenda-setting effects, but more insidiously, the informational cascade had the unfortunate effect of eclipsing accountability mechanisms and confusing the political scenario of impeachment with corruption investigations. Judicial actors in courts could also pass on information to journalists, but in the cases proliferating from the Lava-Jato investigations, information about probes normally comes to public attention months before the denunciations and documents are actually handed over to clerks of the courts. The Lava-Jato scandal can be interpreted as an exemplar case, magnifying certain features such as skew and explosiveness inherent in media agenda processes.