André Duchiade, Author at LatAm Journalism Review by the Knight Center

André Duchiade is a Brazilian journalist and translator based in Rio de Janeiro. André worked on the international politics desk at O Globo from 2018 to February 2023, and his stories have been published at The Scientific American, The Intercept, Época, and Agência Pública de Jornalismo, among others. He is also a former Media Fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin.

André Duchiade es un periodista y traductor brasileño que vive en Río de Janeiro. André trabajó en la redacción de política internacional de O Globo entre 2018 y febrero de 2023, y se han publicado historias suyas en The Scientific American, The Intercept, Época y Agência Pública de Jornalismo, entre otros. También fue Media Fellow en el Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) de Berlín.

André Duchiade é um jornalista e tradutor brasileiro que mora no Rio de Janeiro. André trabalhou como repórter na editoria de política internacional de O Globo entre 2018 e fevereiro de 2023, e suas matéria foram publicadas em The Scientific American, The Intercept, Época, Jornal do Brasil e Agência Pública de Jornalismo, entre outros. Ele também foi fellow de mídia no Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) em Berlim em 2020 e 2021.

Artigos recentes

Black-and-white photograph of Clarice and Vladimir Herzog. Clarice, in the foreground, smiles gently at the camera, while Vladimir, slightly out of focus in the background, looks in her direction. The setting appears to be an indoor space with bookshelves behind them.

Justiça brasileira concede pensão à viúva de Vladimir Herzog 50 anos após o seu assassinato

Clarice Herzog, de 83 anos, lutou por décadas por justiça. Os responsáveis pela tortura e morte do jornalista seguem impunes.

Rixi Moncada, presidential candidate and current Minister of Defense of Honduras, stands with her right hand over her heart, wearing a beige suit. Beside her, General Hernández, in a green military uniform with numerous medals, salutes. In the background, other military personnel and photographers are visible.

Em ano de eleições em Honduras, Forças Armadas e partido no poder aumentam pressão contra jornalistas

Oficiais militares tentam descobrir a identidade de fontes anônimas, enquanto políticos chamam jornalistas e veículos de “pseudoveículos”. A autocensura é o resultado até aqui, advertem defensores da liberdade de imprensa.

A newsroom filled with desks, computers, and journalists working at their stations, overlaid with a digital matrix of binary code and data lines, symbolizing the integration of artificial intelligence in journalism.

Jornalistas brasileiras adotam IA em suas rotinas, mas setor vê ameaça econômica, mostra pesquisa

O relatório Jornalismos e Inteligência Artificial – Impacto sobre os veículos brasileiros mostra que a IA está aumentando a produtividade nas redações do país, mas ainda não impulsiona a inovação. Enquanto isso, os veículos de mídia enfrentam riscos crescentes, à medida que as Big Techs exploram seu conteúdo para atrair tráfego e treinar suas IAs.

A vintage microphone in the foreground with a purple-lit background. Silhouettes of people and colorful sound waves overlay the image, symbolizing audio storytelling and audience engagement.

Podcast narrativo de não ficção é jornalismo ou apenas uma boa história?

Um episódio recente da Rádio Novelo gerou polêmica no Brasil ao contar um caso pessoal sem ouvir o outro lado. A situação levanta uma questão fundamental: até que ponto os dilemas éticos dos novos formatos diferem dos dos meios de comunicação tradicionais?

Logos of the 10 media outlets that are part of the Central American Independent Media Archive (CAIMA), including elPeriódico, Agencia Ocote, No-Ficción, Ojo con mi Pisto, Plaza Pública, Prensa Comunitaria, Ruda GT, Con Criterio, Crónica, and Confidencial.

Arquivo online preserva legado de denúncias e investigações de elPeriódico e outros jornais da América Central

Criado por Ramón Zamora, filho do jornalista preso José Rubén Zamora, o Arquivo Independente de Meios da América Central (Caima) busca garantir que o jornalismo permaneça acessível na América Central apesar de perseguições e censura.

Meta mantém verificadores de fatos na América Latina por enquanto, mas jornalistas se preparam para mudanças

A troca de verificadores de fatos profissionais por notas da comunidade nos Estados Unidos pode indicar um retrocesso global nos controles contra a desinformação.

A close-up of a journalist’s hand holding a notebook and pen, with blurred background showing another person holding a smartphone

Bolsas para reportagens, fellowships e oportunidades disponíveis para jornalistas latino-americanos em janeiro de 2025

A LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) apresenta um compilado de oportunidades disponíveis para jornalistas latino-americanos no começo de 2025, com apoio a reportagens investigativas, jornalismo ambiental e IA.

: "Cover of the book 'A Globo: Hegemony 1965-1984,' the first volume of a trilogy about Brazil's TV Globo network by journalist and professor Ernesto Rodrigues. The cover features a close-up of a camera lens with dynamic green and blue lighting effects."

Novo livro narra bastidores de como a Globo se tornou um império durante a ditadura no Brasil

Uma detalhada investigação esmiúça como se aconteceu a complexa dinâmica de colaboração e dependência da emissora com o poder, que moldou a trajetória da TV e a história recente do Brasil.

A journalist walking barefoot through a burnt forest, surrounded by ash and charred vegetation. He is wearing a green shirt and jeans, carrying a camera over his shoulder. The scene reflects severe environmental damage, with sparse trees and grey ash covering the ground.

Falta de recursos e ameaças marcam atuação de freelancers cobrindo direitos humanos e meio ambiente no Brasil

Trabalhando de forma independente e sem o apoio regular de uma redação, repórteres dizem que são motivados a cobrir esses temas pelo desejo de jogar luz sobre problemas sociais e promover mudanças.

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.