ON GLOBALISATIONMEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES STREAM

Media democratization in Brazil: a look at achievements and future challenges Dr. Carolina MatosEmail: caromate@hotmail.com

Key points

11/04/23

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Introduction: a brief look at the Brazilian media

Media democratization revisited Four lines of inquiry of current research Some results of survey and empirical work Public broadcasting and regulation in the

UK Misuse of public communication structures

in Brazil Challenges regarding media reform and

public communications

Brazilian media today

• Journalism of the 1990’s – Blurring of the boundaries between newsrooms and commercial departments – rise of infotainment and marketing news practices

The expansion of professionalism and objectivity The decline of partisanship and militant journalism -

romantic journalism of the 1970’s versus pragmatism of the 1990’s

Rise of watchdog journalism and investigative reporting as a contemporary genre of the 1990’s (Waisbord, 2000)

Media democratisation revisited

A freer and more independent media and balanced press can only operate if they are not subject to either political or economic constraints (i.e. Hallin and Mancini, 2004) ...

• Literature on media democratization (i.e. Voltmer and Schmitt-Beck, 2006; Curran and Myung-Jin, 2000; Sparks, 2007) has stressed how countries as different as South Africa, Chile and China encountered various problems when it came to the democratization of political communications.

As Voltmer and Schmitt-Beck (2006) state, some countries in Eastern Europe however did manage to implement PSBs with some degree of independence from both the State and from market competition

Comparing media systems: Southern Europe and Latin America

Historical perspectives: State intervention in South America has reinforced governmental power (Waisbord, 2000)

Market liberalisation and political democratisation have assigned new roles for state (more democratic participatory) and market (liberating versus oppressive of debate)

Similarities between Latin American media systems and Southern European (Hallin and Papathanassopoulos (2002, 3):

1) the low circulation of newspapers;

2) tradition of advocacy reporting;

3) instrumentalization (political use) of privately-owned media;

4) politicization of broadcasting and regulation;

5) limited development of journalism autonomy.

Future role for PSB in old and new democracies

In the UK, PSB has emerged as vehicle for strengthening debate.

Talk became more spontaneous and less constrained (Scannell, 1995)

As a vehicle for cultural and educational emancipation; boost of political diversity as well as both regional and national integration

Functioning as a counterweight to the market – the necessity of multiple public spheres and media to attend to both citizen and consumer demands

Is a truly independent public media possible?

Broadcasting in the UK and regulation

* The state’s participation in the ownership or regulation of the broadcast media in liberal European democracies has been based upon the need to guarantee standards of ‘neutrality’, minimising political bias....

• Set up under the 2003 Communications bill, the UK’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, has been an example of reference in media regulation in Europe;

• British newspapers operate on a system of self-regulation (i.e. Press Complaints Commission is an independent self-regulatory body)

• Government in Brazil debates creation of new communication agency, similar to Ofcom.

Broadcasting in the UK and regulation continued

According to Forgan and Tambini (2000, 03, in Santos e Silveira, 2007, 73), PSB regulation in the UK improved through time;

• Dunleavy (1987) has argued how public service broadcasting regulation in the UK has managed to act as a counter-weight to the press, neutralising or balancing the biases of the partisan British tabloids ;

• Regulation in the UK has also been supported by various regulation bodies who have established different codes of conduct.

PSB tradition versus citizens’ knowledge of politics

BBC is pointed out by researchers as being able to deliver more elections news, produce longer stories of greater substance and give more attention to minority parties

Studies (i.e. Curran, 2007; Scammell and Semetko, 2005) have shown how certain countries with a strong PSB tradition, like Britain with its dual system and the Scandinavian nations, where the state subsides minority media outlets, citizens have more knowledge of politics and international affairs than countries where the commercial media system predominates (in Matos, 2008)

Four lines of research inquiry in Media and politics in Latin America (IB Tauris,

2011)

An evaluation of the historical evolution and the public broadcasting tradition in the UK and Brazil;

The relationship between the public media with the state, public sphere and the public interest;

The debates on what constitutes ‘quality’ programming and information in both the private and public media;

An examination of the ‘crisis’ of civic forms of communication, and how they can still be relevant.

Media and politics in Latin America: (http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=9781848856127)

Empirical work and survey: multi-triangulation method

Online survey applied to 149 communication students at UFRJ

Conduction of in depth interviews with 12 journalists and policy-makers

Discussion of programmes from the public media, mainly TV Brasil

Analyse of the uses of the Internet in political campaigning and blogging in the 2010 elections:

a) new media as a counter-public sphere; b) gender politics and representation

Some survey results

Survey revealed a lack of knowledge of the public media

Most watch TV Globo and cable and satellite TV That said, 71% of students defended the public

media, stating that it could have a role in correcting market failure and contributing to democratization

Most however saw little difference in regards to the type of information broadcast in commercial and public TV stations

Differences however are subtle, regarding style and choice of programmes, such as emphasis on “serious” programmes over heavy entertainment

Public communications in Brazil: achievements and future challenges

Achievements of the last years include the realization of the Confecom debates; the implementation of TV Brasil and commitments towards media regulation

Ministry of Communications of former government has identified five areas to tackle:

1) creation of a new regulatory framework; 2) regulation of article 221 of the Brazilian

Constitution; 3) author’s copy rights; 4) Internet regulation 5) public TV regulation.

Public communications in Brazil: achievements and future challenges

Genuine public media does not exist in Brazil, but educational stations controlled by the state or others which represent the Legislative, Executive or Judicial powers (i.e. TV Senado);

Scholars believe that only a new regulatory framework for the media can be capable of contemplating differences between the state and public TVs in relation to commercial sector

Programme for the communication sector of the Lula candidature in 2006 underscored that democratization of communications was necessary to deepen democracy

Auto-regulation of newspapers is being proposed by National Association of Newspapers (ANJ), praised by Unesco

Facts and figures on PSB platform in Brazil

Legislation on broadcasting dates to 1962, the Codigo Brasileiro de Telecomunicacoes, combining the authoritarianism of the Vargas regime, such as power to distribute licences, with economic liberalism

Weak public media sector, with the respected but funded-starved TV Cultura (SP) and TVE (RJ)

Ministry of Communications in May 2011 revealed a map stating that 56 MPs are owners or have relatives in radio and TV stations

50% of more than 2.000 community stations are linked to politicians (Lima, 2007)

Quotes from interviews

‘ ...always when a government destined resources to the public TV, it wanted to be compensated by a positive representation..... We have not yet fully incorporated the notion that the public television attends to citizenship rights..... If we really have a strengthening of the public media – we will have advanced historically....In Brazil the idea that the government should interfere in social communications is like a multi-party consensus. We can see that no public television has total autonomy.....’ (Eugenio Bucci)

Quotes from interviews

‘In 2005, when the mensalao scandals emerged, that was when they ‘sold’ the idea to Lula to have TV Brasil, of having a strong public network capable of competing with the private, as the government wanted a media which could be more favourable...The government wanted an instrument to defend itself, and it convinced itself that it was important. This is a contradiction with the real role that public TV should have....There is actually a lot of idealism and hypocrisy in this whole discussion... People say that all you need is another option to TV Globo for people to change channels, but the reality is that they do not, they do not change to TV Brasil. I believe that this issue has a direct relation to education as well, for a better quality education produces audiences of better quality.....’

(Gabriel Priolli, vice-director of journalism of TV Cultura)

Tentative conclusions

1) Building of a broadcasting regulatory framework committed to the public interest and independent;

2) reinforcement of balance and professionalism in newsrooms, including regulation of the journalism profession and auto-regulation of the press;

3) Fortifying of the public media platform, TV, radio and the Internet, followed by an engagement with the debate over “quality”

4) Strengthening of regional, local and alternative media

5) Wider access to less privileged sectors of the population to the Internet throughout Latin America

Selected Bibliography

Banerjee, Indrajit and Seneviratne, Kalinga (2006) (eds.) Public Service Broadcasting in the Age of Globalization, Singapore: Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC)

Bolano, Cesar Ricardo Siqueira (2007) Qual a logica das politicas de comunicacao no Brasil?, Sao Paulo: Editora Paulus

Canizalez, Andres and Lugo-Ocando, Jairo (2008) “Beyond National Media Systems: A Media for Latin America and the Struggle for Integration” in The Media in Latin America, Berkshire: Open University Press, 209-223

Curran, James, Iyengar, Shanto, Brink Lund, Anker, Salovaara-Moring, Inka (2009) “Media System, Public Knowledge and Democracy” in European Journal of Communications, vol.24, no. 1, 5-26

Fox, Elizabeth and Waisbord, Silvio (eds.) (2002) Latin Politics, Global Media, Austin: University of Texas Press