By Maira Magro
Approximately 500 members of unions, social movements, and journalism groups gathered at the São Paulo Journalists’ Union offices to demonstrate “In defense of democracy and against media coup-ism,” G1 reports.
The organizers accused some news companies of favoring candidates leading up to the Oct. 3 elections, argued for the democratization of the media, and demanded full transparency in advertising contracts and business accounts at the largest media outlets, Terra and G1 explain. They have also released a document in Portuguese, “For broader freedom of expression,” explaining their proposals.
“Distorting…publishing opinions as if they were facts is not practicing journalism, but instead manipulating the daily news according to the interests of those that don’t report truthfully,” said José Augusto Camargo, the president of the São Paulo Journalists’ Union and the secretary general of the National Federation of Journalists. He also accused several sectors of the press of being behind a “media coup” against the popular will.
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.
