By Maira Magro
Representatives from Brazil's media outlets sent a document to Minister Samuel Pinheiro Guimaraes, the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs, arguing that "freedom to think and express opinions and information, without control by whomever, is the very essence of democracy," according to Folha de S. Paulo (link for subscribers) and O Globo.
In a letter to the leaders of media companies, Folha reported, Pinheiro Guimaraes had asked for opinions about what journalism should be like in 2022. The companies joined together to issue a unified response signed by the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Stations (ABERT), the National Newspaper Association (ANJ) and the National Association of Magazine Editors (ANER).
According to Folha, the media companies defended self-regulation of the industry and various principles of non-intervention, such as that the journalist profession not be regulated by the state. The document also advocates for a law for access to public information, freedom of commercial information and copyrights of journalists and companies on the Internet.
The document was sent as proposals from the PT to fight media monopolies are being considered, reported O Globo.
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.
