This paper focuses on the study of the column Cinematographo, published weekly from August 11, 1907 until December 19, 1910 in Gazeta de Notícias, and its homonym book (1909), both Paulo Barreto’s publications. Considering that the book is not just a collection of published columns in the newspaper, what may seem the case at first, this work wants to reflect about the non-inclusion of such columns in his book. This paper pretends to comprehend and, moreover, investigate the presence of the kind of media, which becomes a mark of the difference between what the author considers to be newspaper work and what he believes to be art. This way, his book reveals a conception that transcends the journalistic field and the mass culture: by changing the media used, he manages to transform the chosen chronicles from the newspaper frailty to art. Besides analyzing the representations of the Federal District in João do Rio’s columns during an era of great changes, it will be possible to study the Cinematographo’s organization and its relation to the published chronicles in the newspaper. Also, it may be possible to verify that the change of media – from the newspaper to the book – modifies their meaning. It is, therefore, an effort in order to understand the letter cinematography.