Journalism and Political Democracy in Brazil is an investigation into the complexities of the relationship established between the media and the government in the aftermath of the Brazilian dictatorship. It examines the role of the mainstream press in the process of the democratization of the Latin American nation from 1984 to 2002 and questions to what extent the communications industry was able to offer contributions to the creation of wider democratic spaces for debate in the media's public sphere.Matos concludes that the commercial media did have a role in advancing the cause of democracy in Brazil, though limited by political and economic constraints.
By focusing on the analysis of key post-dictatorship political and presidential campaigns, this book discusses the inherent tension between the media and the Brazilian state and shows how crucial the impact of these campaigns was in the formation of power hierarchies in society and politics. An important work that highlights the struggle for the wider inclusion social and political players in the media's ongoing dialogue on democratization,Journalism and Political Democracy in Brazil provides a picture of the forms of media that have grown out of the diverse political interests of Brazilian society.
