Journalism and political democracy in Brazil (1984-2002)
Carolina Oliveira Matos
Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy of the University of London
Department of Media and Communications
Goldsmiths College
University of London
September 2006
Abstract
In the aftermath of the dictatorship (1964-1985), Brazil shifted away from the state to embrace market liberal democracy and global capitalism. The mainstream press in the last 18 years since the end of the military regime has experienced the tensions of attending to the public interest in response to the country’s democratisation whilst maximising consumerism approaches to news due to market pressures. The media acquired more credibility amid the growth of press freedom. Public debate and independence from the state also increased and liberal journalism cultures of professionalism and objectivity expanded in newsrooms to the detriment of partisanship routines. Worries concerning the media’s adherence to the public interest and the limits imposed on the enhancement of debate are growing though in the light of the continuous predominance of the market in the communication sector. This thesis discusses these realms of conflict by focusing on key historical and political events which contributed to re-shape power structures in Brazil. It debates the role assumed by the press and journalists in the democratisation process (1984-2002).
This research has focused on four case studies which include: a) the 1984 direct elections campaign (Diretas Já); b) the first presidential elections of 1989 followed by the 1992 impeachment; c) the elections of 1994, which occurred amid the launch of the real stabilization plan, and d) the 2002 contest which elected the first left-wing government in Brazil since the 1964 military coup. This thesis questions to what extent the press in general – or certain media vehicles in particular – contributed to promote social and political change in the last two decades. Textual and content analysis have been used here to examine news material from national newspapers and elite magazines, while in-depth interviews with key journalists were conducted in order to discuss news production practices and editorial judgments.
Declarations and acknowledgements
I would like to thank all the journalists and academics in Brazil who took time off their own work to participate in this research and to contribute as much as they did. I would like to thank colleagues from Folha, O Globo and JB and the various librarians and technical staff from the National Library and the federal universities in RJ and SP. I also want to especially thank Professor James Curran and Goldsmiths College for their support, generosity and believe in my work. I am very grateful to David Humphrey for having proof read my thesis. I also want to thank my journalist, scholar friends and family members Heliana Oliveira and Marcelo Teixeira who were very supportive, and who helped me cope and got me through the hardest moments of the past four years.
Table of Contents
Title 2
Abstract 3
Declaration and
Acknowledgements 4
Table of Contents 5
Abbreviations 9
PART I
Defining frameworks
Chapter 1 - The Brazilian media in the spotlight: setting up a working agenda
1.1. Introduction 10
1.2. Frameworks on the Brazilian media and on political economy theories 12
a) Discussing hypotheses 12
b) International perspectives: US/UK liberal media theories 14
c) Brazilian academic debates: radical and liberal critiques 17
1.3. Journalism identity: a profile of the Brazilian media 22
a) The American connection: professionalism and commercialisation 22
b) The imperialism debate and the commercial versus the public media 24
c) Brazilian journalism: literary and political influences 26
1.4. Media concentration and social exclusion in the Brazilian media 28
II – Debates on theory and methods 33
a) Methodological issues 33
b) Theoretical influences 41
c) Thesis outline 43
PART II
Civil democracy transition and the struggle with the State
Chapter 2 – Market-driven journalism in the pursuit of democracy: an analysis of ‘’Folha de Sao Paulo’’ and the coverage of the Diretas Já!
2.1. Introduction 46
2.2.“I want to vote for president”: deconstructing the Diretas Já 49 2.3. FSP: history and identity 53
2.3. Militant journalism and democracy in FSP: an examination of the Diretas Já !
coverage 56
a) The initial phase: the campaign hits the streets 58
b) Engagement and mobilization: the peak of the movement 61
c) A nation frustrated: the rejection of Dante’s bill 64
2.5. Officialdom and late militancy: discussing reactions of the
mainstream press 66 2.6. The 1984 Folha project: the shift from “revolutionary” to
commercial journalism 73
2.7. Conclusion 80
PART III
The 90’s: the consolidation of a free-market press
Chapter 3 – Ideological campaigns and the watchdog role of the press: the media coverage of the 1989 elections and the 1992 impeachment
3.1.Introduction 82 3.2. “Chose the tongue-tied or the second-rate film star!”: ideological polarization
in the 1989 elections 85
a) 1989: a year of turmoil 85
b) The initial construction of the myth of the nation’s saviour 86
c) The marketing candidate wins the media: the consolidation phase 93
d) Hysteria and ideological anxiety: the second round 96
e) Collor’s victory and the PT defeat 100
3.3. The (initial) awakening of the press: the FSP versus Collor dispute 102
3.4. Between hysterical students and a barking media:
the 1992 impeachment 104
a) The watchdog function 104
b) The decline of the Collor myth and denuncismo journalism 107
c) “Resign!” say ESP and FSP 111
d) Black flags rise: students protest and public opinion
pressures for impeachment 112
3.5. Conclusion 116
Chapter 4 – National politics in a global economic world: a case study of the 1994 presidential elections
4.1. Introduction 119
4.2. The economic context of the post-dictatorship and economic journalism 121
4.3. The real as marketing tool and FHC: the media coverage of the 1994
elections 124
a) A general perspective on the campaign 124
b) The “positive” and “negative” stories on Lula and FHC 125
c) A campaign of a single issue: the dominance of the economic agenda 134
d) The launch of the real and FHC in the press 137
e) Ricupero’s satellite dish and the PT versus the PSDB tug-of-war 142
f) Lula versus Isto É: partisan routines or professional journalism? 145
4.4. PSDB and the possibility of a “third way”:
the significance of the FHC victory 149
4.5. Conclusion 151
PART IV
Social-democracy and the rise of center-left wing politics
Chapter 5 – Market constraints and social democracy: the media coverage of the 2002 elections
5.1. Introduction 154
5.2. The FHC legacy and the 1998 elections 156
5.3. The role of the media during the Cardoso era 158
5.4. The PT’s transformation and the British Labour Party 161
5.5. Market constraints and social agendas: conflicts in the media coverage of the
2002 elections 162
a) A general overview: the publication of positive and balanced
stories on Lula/PT 162
b) Journalists and the 2002 elections 167
c) Lula and the market forces: the wooing of the business world
and the Veja stories 170
d) Lula in the general press: towards a “humanistic” capitalism 175
e) The dispute for the center-left space:
who is the ‘new’ anti-Lula? 177
5.6. The final phase and the significance of the Lula victory 181
a) Temperatures rise: between PT “radicalism”
and “economic terrorism” 181
b) Lula in the newspapers as president 184
5.7. Conclusion 188
PART V
Journalism and political democracy
Chapter 6 - Partisanship versus professionalism: the role of the journalist in the democratization process
6.1. Introduction 191
6.2. Balance and fairness in Brazilian journalism: the partisanship versus professionalism debate 194
a) International perspectives on objectivity 196
b) In between two journalisms: militant/romantic journalism
versus professionalism 202
c) Objectivity and information in FSP and O Globo 206
d) The importance of objectivity and professionalism to journalism 211
6.3. Journalism and democracy: the contribution of journalists
to the democratisation process 213
6.4. Professionalism and journalism autonomy:
the future role of the journalist 217
6.5. Conclusion 220
CONCLUSION
Chapter 7 – Media and democracy in Brazil: towards a ‘realistic’ settlement
7.1. Introduction 223
7.2. The Brazilian press and democracy: debates on public intervention,
freedom of the market, civil society and journalism 225
a) General perspectives 225
b) The market and the media 228
c) The media and the state 231
d) Civil society and the media 235
e) The media and journalism 237
7.3. Conclusion 241
Bibliography 243
Appendices 266
Appendix 1: Additional information on methodology 266
Appendix 2: Appendices of chapters – Chapter 2 276
Appendix 3: Chapter 3 281
Appendix 4: Chapter 4 287
Appendix 5: Chapter 5 292
Appendix 6: Chronology of the Collor era (1989-1992) 298
Appendix 7: Chronology of the 1994 elections and FHC’s governments 300
Appendix 8: Chronology of the 2002 elections 301
Appendix 9: Key facts of Brazilian history 302
Appendix 10: Brazilian party system and presidential elections 303
Appendix 11: Media ownership in Brazil 305
Appendix 12: Newspaper circulation numbers 306
Appendix 13: Further information on television and newspaper market 307
Appendix 14: Interviews with journalists 310
Appendix 15: Profile of Interviewees 311
List of Abbreviations
ABI – Brazilian Press Association
ACM - Antonio Carlos Magalhães
Brizola – Leonel Brizola
CBN – National Center of News
Ciro – Ciro Gomes
CNBB – National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil
CUT – Central Union of Workers
ESP – Estado de São Paulo
FGV – Getúlio Vargas Foundation
FSP – Folha de São Paulo
FHC – Fernando Henrique Cardoso
GUMG – Glasgow University Media Group
Iuperj – University Institute of Research of the State of Rio de Janeiro
JB – Jornal do Brasil
Lula – Luis Inácio Lula da Silva
MST – Landless movement of Brazil
OAB – Order of Lawyers from Brazil
PUC – Pontific Catholic University
RJ – Rio de Janeiro
Serra – José Serra
SP – São Paulo
UFRJ – Federal University of the State of RJ
UNE – National Students Union
USP - University of the State of São Paulo
Chapter 1 – The Brazilian media in the spotlight: setting up a working agenda
I. Introduction
Many South American countries in the last two decades experienced significant political and social changes, embracing representative liberal democracy and global market free-trade after having lived through relatively long dictatorship periods. After escaping from the tentacles of the military generals, which kept the country tied to an old economic model of state intervention and to a weak form of political institutionalisation with fragile freedom of expression, Brazil reduced the role of the state and dived into the waters of the market. At a first glance, the contemporary scenario seems to invite only optimism: the market has permitted stronger governmental accountability and a means of safeguarding citizens from corruption. Political democracy has been consolidated, with full competitive and free elections being held regularly. Certain civil society players and unprivileged members of Brazilian society have been included in the mainstream arena and a relative degree of press independence and freedom has been achieved due to political democratisation and market expansion. The contemporary years nonetheless have been highly contradictory. The slow and gradual consolidation of political democracy has been problematic, with market, the state and the various societal spheres of the country being overwhelmed in tensions. Media systems have been shaped by both market expansion and the newly (re)gained political and civil freedoms which (re)emerged with liberal political democracy. The state and the market have thus been forces for advancement as much as they have placed political and economic constraints on the media’s contribution to the democratisation process.
The media industry has had a vital role in re-shaping the power structures of Brazilian society and has functioned as a crucial site for social, political and ideological struggles. In the aftermath of the dictatorship, the press has also had to redefine its role and relationship to democracy. It assumed other functions which went beyond being either a mere mouthpiece of governmental decisions or a vehicle of political resistance to the military regime. Public interest commitments for instance were expanded in the media as a consequence of increasing political democratisation. This occurred in a scenario of growing media commercialisation and wider consumerism pressures. The market thus paved the way for the opening of new spaces in the mainstream media, extending the representation in this arena to the interests of ‘new publics’. The post-dictatorship years saw also wider spaces for public debate and scrutiny of state activities being created in the media pages whilst market pressures were maximised and consumerism approaches to news-making became the norm. Market excesses however placed limits again on the proliferation of public debate. This resulted in struggles being fought in newsrooms concerning multiple journalism identities, with tensions emerging in a context of growing media concentration and penetration of international interests in the communication sector.
This new chapter in Brazil’s history started to give roots, if only slowly and in contradictory ways, to new forms of thinking and approaches regarding the relationship between politics, democracy and the media. The anchoring of the media in the waters of the market without a doubt permitted crucial improvements to journalism practice, which gained in professionalism and balance. The voicing of the agendas of the opposition and of civil society, the articulation of various debates and the discussion of more social and controversial issues were among some of the positive developments detected in the coverage of the political and presidential elections of the post-dictatorship period, as we shall see. Growing market pressures, however, imposed limits on public debate. News during the 1990’s became much more commercialised. In its urge to give in to the desires of a multiplicity of new publics, the press succumbed at times to sensationalism practices and denuncismo journalism to sell newspapers and feed avid readers. Market pressures thus placed restrictions on quality debate, requiring simplifications of media messages to reach wider audiences.
After the re-democratisation period (1985-1989) and especially after 1989, the state was seen as a potential force towards social inclusion and wealth distribution. These sentiments were manifested mostly during the presidential elections held after the dictatorship (1964-1985), which is one of the main reasons that these political campaigns and elections have been included as core case studies here. As we shall see, the state was the object of both excessive elite attacks because of its authoritarian roots and nepotism practices as much as it began to emerge as a source of hope for millions of Brazilians for a more just society. Thus I believe studying the major social and political transformations of the last two decades through the media pages is of essential importance if we aim to construct a more democratic and representative press. It is thus necessary to understand better how the press contributed to steer Brazilian society in specific directions in opposition to others, and also how its practices and editorial judgements were influenced by changes that were ocurring in Brazilian society.