NGO on media in Brazil: "The country of 30 Berlusconis"

247 - A report by the NGO Reporters Without Borders, released this Thursday, defined Brazil as "the country of 30 Berlusconis," criticizing the concentration of the country's media outlets in the hands of a few. "Brazil presents a level of media concentration that contrasts completely with the potential of its territory and the extreme diversity of its civil society," analyzes the NGO that defends press freedom. "The colossus seems to have remained unmoved with regard to pluralism, a quarter of a century after the return of democracy," highlights RSF (the full report can be read online). here).

The report was compiled after visits by NGO members to Brasília, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. According to Reporters Without Borders, "the media landscape of the country that will host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics has changed little in the three decades following the 1964-1985 military dictatorship." The document highlights that the 10 largest media companies in the country are based in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, which "weakens regional media."

"The editorial independence of print and broadcast media is undermined by the heavy dependence on propaganda from the government and its agencies," analyzes the report, which highlights that in 2012, 11 journalists were killed in the country. According to the NGO, one of the endemic problems in the information sector in Brazil is the figure of the media mogul, who "is at the origin of the media's great dependence on centers of power." "Ten major economic groups, of family origin, continue to divide the mass communication market," laments RSF.

Solutions

According to the NGO, another problem in Brazil is internet censorship, with complaints that led to the closure of blogs during the 2012 municipal elections. The document cites the case of the director of Google Brazil, Fábio José Silva Coelho, who was briefly imprisoned for not removing a video from YouTube that allegedly attacked a mayoral candidate. Coelho was arrested by the Federal Police last September at the request of the mayoral candidate for Campo Grande, Alcides Bernal.

To rebalance the Brazilian media landscape, Reporters Without Borders recommends reforming legislation regarding the ownership of large media groups and their financing through official advertising. Furthermore, the NGO suggests improving the allocation of audiovisual frequencies to favor media outlets, and a new sanctions system that does not include the closure of media outlets or websites, among other measures.