GNT is in a tight spot: articulations between brand identity and gender relations

Abstract

This paper analyzes GNT’s transition from a news channel to a television network focused specifically on the “feminine universe” within the context of the discussion program Saia Justa launching, firstly aired on April 17, 2002. The present work aims at investigating how a TV show articulates disputes concerning GNT brand identity — as well as its discussion program and femininities — by proposing a debate about everyday topics and current affairs among four famous women. As a theoretical framework, the text is based on a conception of brand identity as a result of an interaction between industrial logics, expressive forms and audience expectations, based on Johnson (2012, 2007) and Gutmann (2015). Gender relations are interpreted based on considerations by Scott (1995), Butler (2001, 2008) and Collins (2017). It’s concluded that GNT seeks a distinction by including journalistic elements and referring to the figure of a “contemporary woman” in the Saia Justa program. Although it stands as different compared to what television offered to the female audience, it keeps marriage, vanity and delicacy as desirable values.

Keywords: GNT. Saia Justa. Discussion program.