Brazil, the country of thirty Berlusconis

Reporters Without Borders is today releasing a report entitled “Brazil, the country of 30 Berlusconis” that examines all of the shortcomings of this South American giant’s media landscape It is based on fact-finding visits to Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasilia in November 2012 The media topography of the country that is hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics has barely changed in the three decades since the end of the 1964-85 military dictatorship. As well as the ten or so major companies that dominate the national media and are mainly based in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil has many regional media that are weakened by their subordination to the centres of power in the country’s individual states. The editorial independence of both print and broadcast media is above all undermined by their heavy financial reliance on advertising by state governments and agencies.