Brazil's political process 'damaged by partisan press' claim journalists

Source: Independent

Brazil's political process 'damaged by partisan press' claim journalists

The country's media ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few domestic conglomerates which dominate the market, and are owned by a wealthy elite

Janet Tappin Coelho Rio de Janeiro |
7 hours ago|

Brazil's political process 'damaged by partisan press' claim journalists

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff could soon see impeachment proceedings brought against her, as congress legislators are expected to vote on starting the process today. However, media coverage of the political turmoil is causing alarm among some leading journalists who claim the country’s democratic process is under threat from a “perniciously” partisan press.

Whatever the outcome of the indictment – which accuses Ms Rousseff of mismanaging the economy, and which could see her either being ousted, resigning or surviving – media experts argue the “persistent distortion and manipulation of the news coverage of the political crisis” by the country's mainstream media has handed an overwhelming advantage in the opinion stakes to forces aligned against the country’s first female President.

Bia Barbosa, a journalist and coordinator of the Brasilia-based National Forum for the Democratisation of Communication (FNDC) told The Independent: “The media has used the power of images and words to build a narrative designed to influence public opinion. What we are suffering, on a daily basis, is an absence of parity in the press and this is threatening our country’s fragile hold on democracy”.

Brazil’s media ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few domestic conglomerates which dominate the market, and are owned by a wealthy elite with historic allegiances to right-wing parties. These same political parties failed four times to defeat Ms Rousseff’s Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) at the polls.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazils-political-process-damaged-by-partisan-press-claim-journalists-dilma-rousseff-impeach-a6978011.html