• By Leonardo Coelho
• June 24, 2026

In the middle of Times Square, a blonde woman wearing a Brazil-themed jacket introduces herself to a camera: “Hi, my name is Virginia Fonseca. I’m a World Cup reporter …”

She gets cut off by a man who steps into the frame with a record-scratch.

“No, not a reporter,” he says. “Avoid that. Say something else.”

She starts over: “I’m Virginia Fonseca, a digital influencer …”

The man interrupts again: “Not digital influencer either. We’re on TV. Pick something else.”

She gives up.

“I’m Virginia Fonseca. Look me up. I don’t even know … I’m just me, Virginia. Look me up and then we’ll figure it out.”

A quick search for Fonseca’s name in Brazil makes clear who she is. Virginia Fonseca is a giant among digital influencers, with more than 57 million followers on Instagram, 43 million on TikTok and nearly 12 million on YouTube. She is also a multimillionaire cosmetics entrepreneur.

The video continues, in Fonseca’s television debut in video blog style from New York City on her first installment with “Domingão com Huck,” a variety show hosted by Luciano Huck, one of Brazil’s most famous television personalities on TV Globo, one of the world’s largest broadcasters.

Fonseca, however, is not a journalist.

Many viewers may have overlooked the segment, but others saw it as a provocation aimed at critics — particularly journalists. When Fonseca was announced by TV Globo and the show, she was introduced as a “special reporter,” triggering a wave of controversy across the Brazilian media landscape.

The National Federation of Journalists, or FENAJ, publicly criticized the decision, saying it reflects “an increasingly evident trend of decline in the journalistic coverage of major events, marked by a drastic reduction in professional staff, funding cuts and the replacement of journalists by figures focused exclusively on entertainment and social media engagement.”

Veteran sports reporters such as Juca Kfouri, who has covered 14 World Cups, were harsh in their criticism, calling the move an affront to journalism.

“Virginia, who can barely string together two sentences, is going to be a World Cup reporter — it’s an aberration that entertainment has completely replaced journalism,” he said during a television program.

Many others, however, came to Fonseca’s defense.

Television host Glenda Kozlowski wrote on social media that people should let Fonseca do her job.

“If Luciano Huck chose Virginia, he has his reasons,” she said. “It’s a variety show.”

Mariliz Pereira Jorge, a columnist for Folha de S.Paulo, asked, “Who’s afraid of Virginia?” adding that the criticism misses the point.

“Journalism didn’t lose ground to influencers because its place was never the stage,” she wrote.

Raphael Palumbo, who worked as an editor and producer at TV Globo for more than three decades, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) that some journalists behave like nostalgic, inconsolable widows of a bygone era, treating every innovation as if it were a funeral.

“Throughout television history, many talents emerged outside traditional paths, without degrees or credentials, while professionals with ‘enviable’ résumés never managed to connect with audiences,” Palumbo said. “At 60, after living through the transition from analog to digital, I’ve learned that technology changes, formats change, content changes and audiences change as well. The only thing that never changes is the fear and resistance of those who mistake novelty for decline.”

Kelly Miyashiro, who covers the television and streaming industries for Veja magazine, reported that the real strategy appears to be commercial. Globo hopes to leverage Fonseca’s enormous follower base to boost engagement and ratings as Brazil’s television consumption ecosystem undergoes a profound transformation.

TV Globo’s dominance is increasingly challenged by streaming companies such as CazéTV after decades at the top. Gustavo Poli, another former Globo executive, is writing a series on Substack explaining the industry’s dramatic shift.

In an article for the newspaper O Globo, Poli, who served as Globo’s director of programming and digital content, posed a central question: “Is a sports broadcast journalism or entertainment?”

Analyzing coverage produced by newcomers, he concluded that finding a balance between information and entertainment is difficult — but necessary.

For media scholars, this gray area between journalism and entertainment lies at the heart of the debate.

Luiz Artur Ferraretto, a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, told LJR that journalism deals with facts and opinions necessary for the public to understand reality, while entertainment may cater solely to audience preferences and follows a different set of ethical and technical standards.

“A journalist’s essential role is to be a reporter,” Ferraretto said. “Even when working for institutions, journalists need to think like reporters — as is the case with press officers, who should treat the actions of those they represent as news. What Globo is doing with Virginia Fonseca is presenting an entertainment personality as a reporter. Strictly speaking, that is a misleading practice.”

The controversy is one of the latest local chapters in a longstanding dilemma confronting journalism worldwide: the integration of influencers into news coverage.

Even in Brazil, the phenomenon is not new. In 2024, TV Globo faced criticism for hiring influencers to participate in its Carnival coverage. The backlash was so intense that the network changed course in 2025.

Some journalists are choosing to migrate, at least partially, into the digital influencer ecosystem themselves.

According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s 2025 Digital News Report, 33% of Brazilians say they follow creators and influencers for news, while 30% say they follow news organizations and journalists. By comparison, 21% of Americans get news from social media influencers, according to the Pew Research Center.

Ironically, some of Brazil’s most successful sports reporters are among those monetizing this shift by openly embracing their fandom — particularly in soccer — and turning partisanship into a business model that blends journalism, digital engagement, entrepreneurship and sponsorship from betting companies.

Fonseca herself fits into this model. Beyond her attempt at reporting, she has been sponsored by betting companies, earning millions of dollars and millions of followers. She was even summoned  by the Brazilian Senate for an inquiry on online betting.

The commission’s final report recommended the indictment of 16 companies and individuals, including Fonseca. The report’s author said there was evidence to pursue charges against her — and lawyer/influencer Deolane Bezerra — for alleged crimes including deceptive advertising, fraud, money laundering and promoting betting platforms without legal authorization.

The committee, however, ultimately rejected the final report.

This text was translated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Jorge Valencia