Artigos

A large group of people smiling and posing for a group photo in a brightly lit room. At the front, a woman in a yellow shirt holds a decorative cake, surrounded by others making cheerful gestures.

Como nativos digitais estão cultivando comunidades de apoiadores

O livro “Tijolo por Tijolo” explica como meios de notícias nativos digitais no Brasil e na Colômbia estão fomentando comunidades de apoiadores financeiros para sustentar seu jornalismo. É um exercício de persistência e resiliência.

In theory, the purpose of government advertising is to distribute information of public relevance to society.State advertising funds are meant to help governments communicate with the population about the services they provide and public policies they promote, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

In practice, however, government advertising funds form a crucial pillar of financial sustainability for many media outlets across Latin America. Without regulations defining how these funds should be distributed or transparency that shows where the money goes, the resources become ripe for corruption. They are frequently used as tools for indirect censorship, punishing independent journalism.

These are some conclusions from a study published last week by the Latin American Observatory of Media Regulation and Convergence with support from UNESCO. The study, called "Official Advertising, Media, and Freedom of Expression,” diagnoses existing regulations on official advertising in 11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and how they are implemented.

Journalists, academics, and researchers from independent organizations in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay examined state advertising under the coordination of Uruguayan researcher Jimena Torres and guidance from Argentine researcher Santiago Marino. They sought to answer questions like: Are there specific laws regulating government advertising? Are there proactive mechanisms for disclosing these funds? Who is eligible to receive them?

The diagnosis is quite negative. Few countries have adequate regulations, and when they do, they are not systematically enforced. In countries with smaller advertising markets, official advertising becomes critical for the sustainability of media outlets, and it is managed without transparency and with political bias.

"Due to the absence of regulation and the logic behind its management, government advertising is administered from a friend-or-foe perspective, using very opaque criteria for its distribution," Santiago Marino, the chief researcher, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). "This, in turn, conditions both the operation and sustainability of media outlets."

Funds without laws

From the 11 countries studied, only Brazil, Mexico, and Peru have specific laws determining how government advertising funds should be allocated. But the mere existence of a regulation does not guarantee transparency, fairness, or that official advertising promotes pluralism in communication in any of these countries.

Brazil's regulatory framework, from 2008, is the most praised in the study and is considered “sufficiently clear.” It distinguishes between institutional advertising and public-interest advertising, with clear limits on self-promotion by government officials and political parties. However, the allocation of funds is not made easily accessible, requiring more meticulous methods to verify.

Additionally, the Brazilian law did not prevent the government of Jair Bolsonaro, in office from 2019 to 2022, from allocating funds to websites that publish false information. Furthermore, allocation criteria are strongly tied to audience size. “This parameter poses a problem for promoting pluralism by maintaining proportional transfers based on audience size, without investing in smaller, independent outlets,” the report says.

In Mexico, the General Law on Social Communication, enacted in 2018 and amended in 2023, regulates the issue. However, according to the study, the law leaves room for arbitrary use of government advertising budgets because it does not establish clear rules and has not been effective.

In Peru, even with various laws in place, the lack of clear allocation criteria means public entities distribute resources at their discretion. “Independent media, which are mostly critical of incumbent governments, have to seek alternative funding sources, as their stance often makes them targets of resistance to being granted official advertising,” the study says.

This vulnerability to political interests is the general rule among the countries studied. “In general, we struggled to find good practices,” Jimena Torres, the study’s coordinator, told LJR. “In many cases, we ended up saying, ‘there are no good practices in this country.’”

In Argentina, there is partial regulation for the federal executive branch but not for other branches of government. The study finds significant discretion in allocation, which becomes apparent in funds invested by public companies and other entities not directly under the national government.

Argentina also demonstrates “a distribution logic based on rewards and punishments to media outlets or groups according to their editorial stance.” As a result of this practice, several media companies have emerged in recent years, sustained almost exclusively by public funds, the study finds.

In Colombia, there is no specific regulation. As a result, ”the multimillion-dollar contracts for government advertising are distributed virtually without adherence to their intended purpose. “For years, they have been repeatedly used to pressure editorial lines or promote certain narratives,” the study says.

Marino considers the case of El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele’s government takes authoritarian measures and persecutes journalists, particularly severe. “There is no regulation whatsoever to frame this activity within an informational pluralism approach,” the report says. “The government has implemented strategies to weaken the media ecosystem, including creating its own media outlets and redirecting official advertising funds to a state-run newspaper and an official news channel.”

Geographic concentration

Another recurring issue identified by the study is the concentration of resources in capitals and metropolitan areas, disadvantaging regional or local media outlets.

“We live in media systems where news production and money are often concentrated in big cities,” said Jimena Torres. “For example, in my country, Uruguay, in a department called Cerro Largo, the main advertiser for local media is the municipality. This means there are often no news stories, or very few, that question what the municipality is doing.”

The lack of advertising funds for non-commercial media is another problem, Marino said. Non-profit outlets are often excluded from government advertising, undermining their sustainability and reducing the diversity of voices.

The study concludes with 15 recommendations. Among them is the need for “specific, clear, and unequivocal” laws to regulate the issue at all levels of government. The allocation of advertising should generally be through competitive processes, with direct contracts being the exception. Advertising must not serve as propaganda for political parties, and transparency must encompass all actors involved in the distribution of funds.

Governments should also implement or promote audience measurement systems that include different types of media and use objective, reliable criteria. These measurements should incorporate data from small, community, and local media outlets to ensure their inclusion in allocating advertisements, avoiding their indirect exclusion.

Finally, other public policies are necessary to support journalism, with resources that promote diversity and plurality in media, the study says.

“For example, through public funds distributed transparently and non-discriminatorily, separate from government advertising expenditures,” the study concludes. “These resources must not be used to influence or condition the editorial line of these outlets.”

Governos da América Latina usam publicidade oficial para controlar imprensa, aponta estudo

Análise da verba publicitária do Estado na região mostra como leis inadequadas possibilitam que governos utilizem mal os recursos, premiando aliados e ameaçando veículos independentes.

A group of journalism students interview a man in Mexico City. (Photo: Courtesy Taller de Periodismo UACM SLTZ)

Oficina de jornalismo nas periferias da Cidade do México ensina alunos a cobrir comunidades estigmatizadas

Em uma oficina de jornalismo da Universidade Autônoma da Cidade do México, alunos das periferias da cidade têm a oportunidade de tornar seus bairros e interesses visíveis, ao mesmo tempo em que combatem o estigma e preenchem uma lacuna deixada pela mídia tradicional.

Cinco jornalistas refletem sobre a cobertura de saúde na América Latina antes, durante e depois da pandemia

As experiências de cinco proeminentes jornalistas da região ilustram como a saúde deixou de ser um tema técnico e esporádico na mídia para ocupar um lugar central na cobertura de notícias.

Two people talking in chairs on top of a laptop

Curso online gratuito sobre influenciadores e jornalistas começa com 9 mil participantes de 172 países. Inscrições continuam abertas!

O Centro Knight para o Jornalismo nas Américas, em parceria com a Unesco, tem estado na vanguarda de uma exploração de um ano sobre o que a ascensão dos influenciadores, ou criadores de conteúdo digital, significa para a indústria dos meios de notícias.

Governo da Nicarágua aperta o cerco à liberdade de expressão com nova lei de telecomunicações

As autoridades nicaraguenses já fecharam, processaram ou forçaram os meios de comunicação críticos ao exílio. Defensores dos direitos humanos alertam que, com a nova lei, as autoridades poderão acessar a localização, as chamadas telefônicas e o histórico de navegação dos usuários da internet.

A woman with glasses, wearing a black outfit and a colorful headband, speaks into a microphone at a podium on stage

Jornalistas negros da América Latina estão se conectando além das fronteiras para ampliar representatividade racial na mídia

A nova Rede de Jornalistas Afro-Latinos tem como objetivo aumentar a diversidade no jornalismo na América Latina e no Caribe. Seus membros querem superar as barreiras do idioma para combater o isolamento e ampliar as vozes negras.

Image of a man listening to the radio among trees in the Brazilian state of Acre

Rádios locais cobrem temas socioambientais e desafiam interesses poderosos na Amazônia brasileira

Mapa Vivo da InfoAmazonia identifica dezenas de emissoras transmitindo de comunidades. Apesar de pressões econômicas, elas enfrentam o agronegócio e destacam direitos indígenas e ambientais.

Illustration of a desk with newspapers on it, an elephant sculpture, a computer and a lamp, with a map of Latin America on the wall in the background.

Jornalistas visibilizam histórias de tráfico e exploração de pessoas, um 'elefante na sala' na América Latina

A conivência das autoridades, a falta de dados oficiais e a indiferença da sociedade dificultam a cobertura do tráfico e da exploração de pessoas, de acordo com mulheres jornalistas que investigaram o tema na Colômbia, México e Paraguai.

Digging into Telegram: Investigative Techniques for Journalists

Novo workshop online em inglês oferece ferramentas para usar o Telegram de forma eficaz em reportagens

O workshop online em inglês foi criado para ajudar repórteres a navegar pela estrutura do Telegram, localizar informações críticas e aproveitar ferramentas de terceiros para aprimorar a apuração e a reportagem. Ao final, participantes terão habilidades práticas para coletar informações no Telegram.

Costa Rica aprova lei histórica de acesso a informações públicas para consagrar transparência governamental

A lei, assinada após mais de 15 anos de luta, estabelece uma estrutura para o acesso a informações públicas e sanções para funcionários que resistem a solicitações de informações.

Man Detained in Handcuffs Indoors, Closeup View. Criminal Law

Jornalistas na Venezuela enfrentam detenções, bloqueios e confisco de passaportes em repressão pós-eleitoral

Três meses após a reeleição contestada de Nicolás Maduro, o regime venezuelano está atacando jornalistas que parecem ser críticos, levando muitos a se autocensurarem, esconderem-se ou fugirem do país.