Recreio, uma revista brinquedo

Abstract

Recreio, a magazine from Abril publishing house, is one of the most important printed media products that are targeted to children in Brazil. The circulation of the magazine is about 75 thousands copies for edition. Some of the peculiarities of its content are: the informative text category, as a representative of journalism for kids, with all the elements of fun that are necessary in it; and so the fun text category, like the games. The magazine is sold together with toys, parts of books and other gifts, which are part of thematic colections. The history of Recreio is divided in two periods: the first, from 1969 to 1982; and the second, from 2000 until now. During a period in 1970’s, the magazine used to have the slogan “The Toy Magazine”. This research analyzes if the relation between the magazine and its children readers seems like the relation between them and the toy. The most important is analyze the elements of this relation, uncovered in the readers’ speech, and identify how the journalism features in the content of Recreio, and its likely “functions” of education and consuption, interfere in the parity to the ideia of a “toy magazine”. The literature review talk about subjects related to communication and childhood, like the journalism for kids, the education, the fun and the consuption. The methodologies for data gathering were basically the unsystematic observation of the magazine editions and the implementation of individual interviews and focal groups. The data analysis, based on the triangular pattern productionmediation-reception, made known that the distinction of text categories, and so the “educative” functional element, isn’t still important to children. Because of this, the symbolical element of the magazine is more important, and so it seems like the concept of toy. However considering that Recreio instigates the consuption, it is compared to the classification of modern toy, more adjustable to the market rules.