“A group of 15 news outlets on Tuesday published editorials officially stating their stance on why they refuse to accept sports betting advertisements. Participating in the initiative are Agência Lupa, Agência Pública, Alma Preta, Amado Mundo, Aos Fatos, Manual do Usuário, Matinal, Meio, Mobile Time, My News, Notícia Preta, NeoFeed, Plural, Portal Imprensa, and Reset.
The goal is to broaden the debate surrounding the pervasive presence of fixed-odds betting house ads across media platforms and examine the role of journalism in this landscape. The topic made headlines during the World Cup, when the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon for its initials in Portuguese), an agency under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, opened an investigation into potential irregularities in the promotion of sports betting during broadcasts.
According to Natalia Viana, co-founder and executive director of investigative outlet Agência Pública, the initiative arose from conversations among directors and newsroom managers who said they were routinely hounded by betting companies offering ad deals, to the point where some simply blocked the senders.”
