Media Power and Democratization in Brazil by Mauro Porto

Author:Mauro Porto [Porto, Mauro]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415720052
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2013-06-21T00:00:00+00:00

CONCLUSIONS

The analysis of relationship between chief executives and the media in the first two decades of Brazil’s new democracy demonstrates the peculiarities of presidential communication in transitional societies. Since the contours of the interactions between presidents and the media are much more fluid and contingent in such societies, the role of personal styles and previous experiences with the media become particularly influential in determining presidents’ media operations.

The strategies established by each president to deal with journalists and editors illustrate the impact of previous experiences and personal views. Facing a difficult political environment, in which the legitimacy of his presidency was questioned, President Sarney relied heavily on the contacts he developed with journalists during his period in the Senate. Because of his tumultuous relation with journalists during the 1989 campaign, President Collor came to the conclusion that they were unsympathetic to his administration and decided to give priority to photographers and cameramen in his media operations. President Franco made consistent efforts to establish informal and personal connections with journalists, based on the assumption that editors were hostile to his administration. To achieve a more harmonious relation with journalists, who he saw as sympathetic to the PT, President Cardoso established a professionalized press office that facilitated news gathering. Finally, working with the assumption that media owners controlled the newsrooms and opposed him, President Lula relied on his public speeches to obtain visibility, while at the same time avoiding the mediation of journalists.

The analysis of presidential communication presented in this chapter also highlights the impact of media transformation on presidential leadership. As discussed in Chapter 3, TV Globo was a rather “closed” media outlet until the mid-1990s, when Roberto Marinho was in charge. In the initial period of the new democracy (1985–1994), Marinho’s reputational power and his alliances with conservative political elites had two important consequences. First, it allowed presidents to exert significant control over the agenda of the nation’s main news organization, thus weakening the political accountability function of the media. Second, it also permitted Marinho to exert significant political influence in the federal government. As we have seen, the climax of Marinho’s political power took place during the democratic transition, especially in terms of the composition of the cabinets appointed by Tancredo Neves and José Sarney. Marinho also exerted significant influence during the impeachment of Collor de Mello and in the transition of power to Vice-President Itamar Franco.

Facing a more “closed” media system, Presidents Sarney, Collor and Franco knew that newsrooms lacked autonomy and that backstage contacts with owners and editors were essential to ensure the success of their communication strategies. The first administrations of the new democracy gave a privileged position to TV Globo in their media operations, with a strong focus on establishing a close relationship with Roberto Marinho to ensure positive news coverage. Since TV Globo’s journalism was highly centralized in this initial phase, presidents also focused on courting editors, as demonstrated by President Collor’s efforts to establish a direct and personal relation with Alberico de Souza Cruz, General-Director of the network’s News Division.

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