By Maira Magro
bra
The demonstration comes at a time when many major Brazilian media outlets have been publishing reports on corruption involving Lula’s recently resigned chief of staff, Erenice Guerra, a close collaborator with Dilma Rousseff, the presidential candidate supported by the current administration. The Federal Police have opened an investigation into the influence peddling allegations and have questioned and gathered source material from Veja magazine reporter Diego Escosteguy, the author of the original reports.
The invitation to the gathering charges the press with “castrating the popular vote” and trying to help the candidacy of Rousseff’s top rival, José Serra. “Driven by the old media, which in recent years has become an authentic conservative political party, this anti-democratic offensive must be stopped. Leading it are media outlets that – by their support of the 1964 coup and the military dictatorship – have already shown their disdain for democracy,” says the invite.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
