By Maira Magro
In his first news conference held exclusively for bloggers, outgoing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva strongly criticized traditional media, saying he had quit reading the opposition press, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reports. Among his plans after leaving office Jan. 1, Lula says he’ll blog and tweet, Spain’s El País says.
Lula reaffirmed his backing of press freedom but accused Brazil’s major media of failing to report reality. Lula touted a new law to regulate the press and continued limits on foreign investment in media, Terra adds.
Many progressive bloggers view the two-hour webcast last week as a major step in pushing toward a more democratic media in Brazil, writes former Brazil correspondent Marta Cooper for Global Voices. Media reform was high on Lula’s agenda, Cooper notes, as was pushing for stronger regulation of the media industry.
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.
