PUBLIC BROADCASTING AND MEDIA REGULATION IN LATIN AMERICAUNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI, FINLAND

Dr. Carolina Matos

Government Department

Essex University

Core readings• Barnett, Steven and Ivor Gaber. 2001. “The crisis in political journalism: an

outline of the argument” in The Westminster tales: the twenty-first century crisis in British political journalism, London: Continuum, 1-11

• Blumler, Jay G. and Gurevitch, Michael. 1995. The Crisis of Public Communication, London: Routledge, 97-111

• Buckman, Robert T. 1996. “Current States of the Mass Media in Latin America” in Cole, Richard (eds.) Communications in Latin America – Journalism, Mass Media and Society, Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, 3-37

• Guedes-Bailey, Olga and Jambeiro Barbosa, Othon F. 2008. “The media in Brazil: a historical overview of Brazilian broadcasting politics” in The Media in Latin America, Open University Press, 46-61

•  Keane, John. 1995. “Structural Transformations of the Public Sphere” in Scammell, Margaret and Semetko, Holli (eds). 2000. The Media, Journalism and Democracy, Hants: Dartmouth Publishing Company

• Matos, C. (2012) Media and politics in Latin America: globalization, democracy and identity, London: I.B. Tauris

Key points• Four lines of inquiry of Media and politics in Latin America: globalization,

democracy and identity (I.B. Tauris, 2012)• Empirical research and methods• Future role of public service broadcasting (PSB) in old and new democracies• Broadcasting in the UK and regulation• PSB’s tradition versus a citizen’s knowledge of politics• Public communication structures in Latin America: a history of neglect• Latin American governments and media reform• The “private” versus “public” dichotomy in television broadcasting• Public communications in Brazil: achievements and future challenges• TV Cultura versus TV Brasil and quotes from interviews• Conclusions• Thank you!

Four lines of research inquiry in Media and politics in Latin America (IB Tauris, 2012)

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.

Intellectual framework for comparative analysis

• My aim has been to expand the available knowledge on the media and political systems of Latin America/Brazil, providing interesting observations of the region and of more advanced democracies

• Latin American continent has changed significantly since the fall of dictatorship regimes, with democracy flourishing amid the rise to power of centre to centre-left wing governments, culminating in new approaches to foreign policy, efforts of restructuring the state and welfare programmes;

PSB in comparative perspective – 1) it assists in the evaluation of the achievements of public

service broadcasting in European countries and its future challenges; - 2) it can also provide a framework for the development of the PSB

platform in emerging democracies which are seeking to deepen political democratisation and reduce economic inequalities, thus contributing to expand debate and to promote wider social and cultural inclusion (Matos, 2008)

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

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)

Latin American governments and media reform

• Brazil and Mexico, with stronger national production markets and audiences, registered lower levels of media concentration and higher diversity compared to other smaller countries in the region

• Governments in Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia have acted to promote media democratization through the creation of regulatory frameworks and public systems of communication

• Argentina is being seen as an example by many experts • In the first government of Kirchner (2007-2011), the approval of the

Law 26.522 – Lei de Servicos de Comunicacao Audio-visual, substituted previous legislation from the dictatorship

• Law proposed limits on the power of media conglomerates, preventing any private TV company from owning more than 35% of the media, stating that licenses should be renewed every 10 years instead of after 20 as well as quotas for local production.

Public communication infrastructure in Latin America: a history of neglect

State intervention in South America has had the aim of reinforcing governmental powers rather than promoting democratic communications (Waisbord, 2000; Matos, 2008).

Broadcasting has been built on a combination of political control and limited regulation. Educational and state channels are mainly owned by sectors of the Church and politicians.

National broadcasting policies have also been traditionally aligned with political interests and state control.

Debates on the necessity of broadcasting and media reform and regulation culminated in the first realization of a conference on the theme in 2009 (i.e. Confecom debates)

The “public” versus “private” media

‘Private’ versus ‘public’ dichotomy

Private PublicRight/Conservative/Centre/Left – the consumer

Centre/Left/Liberal/some conservatives - citizen

‘Objective’ and informational journalism

‘Objective’/’public’/’serious’ journalism

Talk shows/sit-coms/reality TV – American programming, some content from other countries

Realism in films/documentaries/reality TV – ‘arty’ and European programming, some US material

Advertising/aesthetic of consumerism – self/intimacy/the private sphere (i.e. Sci-fi, horror)

‘Quality’ aesthetic/Challenging material - collective/the public sphere

Dreamy/fantasy/’escapism’ texts – occasional ‘serious’ material

Historical material/in depth analyses – some entertainment (i.e. Soaps, drama, sci-fi, horror).

Table 1 – Radio and TV stations controlled by politicians in Brazil (1994) (Source: Lima (2001: 107)

(in Azevedo, 2006, 34)

Channels Total Brazil Current politicians and past

Per cent

TV 302 94 31.12%

Radio 2908 1169 40.19%

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 public communications and broadcasting in Brazil

Government is preparing to put up for public consultation media reform proposals

Last Lula government submitted a text to the Dilma government with proposals from the Confecom debates

Changes to the current legislation on broadcasting, the Codigo Brasileiro de Telecomunicacoes, which dates to 1962. The latter combined the authoritarianism of the Vargas regime, such as power to distribute licences, with economic liberalism

Aim of new regulation for broadcasting is to make the process of TV and radio concessions more transparent and quick

Idea is that there would be one regulatory agency for communications. Anatel (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes) would gain more attributions and a new name (Agencia Nacional de Comunicacao)

TV Cultura versus TV Brasil

• EBC, which controls TV Brasil, was launched in December 2007• Current restructuring of TV Cultura and TV Brasil to attend to

multiple publics, with TV Cultura forming partnerships with newspapers such as Folha

• TV Cultura is seen as aligned with the government of Sao Paulo, of the PSDB, whereas TV Brasil is linked to the federal administration (i.e. accused by the opposition when it was launched of being the “TV Lula”)

• Academics and journalists are weary about media reform (i.e. Gabriel Priolli: “If FHC couldn’t do it, Lula either, I doubt Dilma will.”)

• Sites: www.tvbrasil.ebc.com.br • www.tvcultura.cmais.com.br• www.redeglobo.globo.com

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 – which will only be ‘public’ if it is really independent of governments – 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..The average mentality of politicians in that respect is still very backward....’

(Eugenio Bucci, journalist and former Radiobras president)

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.....more sensitive and....interested in watching the public media....’

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

Challenges for public communications and media reform in Brazil

•Reluctance of market sectors and some media organisations (i.e. fears of media censorship, control of content, competition, etc)

•Break the false equation of regulation with censorship•Scholars believe that only a new regulatory framework for the

media can be capable of contemplating differences between the state, the public and commercial sector

•Study of other European regulation models (i.e. UK and Portuguese)

•Document discussed in the Chamber of Deputies underlines the importance of the State in taking on responsibility for policies for public communications (i.e. guarantee funds)

Some conclusions *

* More support for community radio, funding for segmented media outlets and magazines

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 media5) Wider access to less privileged sectors of the

population to the Internet throughout Latin America