The article examines the process of discursive construction of the 'SUS problem' in reports published in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo in 2008. Through an online search of the Folha archives, 667 news items were selected and then studied from the perspectives of critical discourse analysis and contributions from social constructionism. In methodological terms, at the text practice level of analysis, the investigation sought to determine what linguistic resources had been used to construct the SUS problem. At the discursive practice level of analysis, it further explored how the newspaper medium and the journalistic style influenced the production of these meanings. The article concludes that as this production constructs the SUS problem, it fosters a limited, negative view of the the Sistema Único de Saúde (Unified Healthcare System, or SUS) based on mistrust and on the notion that it is impossible to improve the system.
Unified Healthcare System; press; health communication; critical discourse analysis