The historical conditions that have shaped the regulatory framework concerning Brazilian communication have ended up producing a scenario of high concentration of media ownership and of media content production and distribution.

Brazil’s Federal Constitution guarantees to the Brazilians a broad access to information from different and multiple sources within a democratic environment where freedom of speech and the press is ensured. The reality shows that the country still has a long way to go in terms of diversifying its information sources, also by expanding it to government and community communication channels.

The fact is that the area of communication in Brazil is laid upon an institutional legislation – which in fact sets the rules of the game – dating back to 1962 that does not meet the political and social challenges posed by the 1988 Federal Constitution or by the new Brazilian social reality.

Commercial media:

Many political groups from different spheres of the Legislative and Executive branches own many commercial media companies in Brazil. The Brazilian media is dominated by a small number of national groups which, altogether, control more than 500 media vehicles and one TV network alone detains half of the national audience (Mídia Dados).

Public media:

Besides commercial media, the 1988 Federal Constitution provides for the existence of two other systems: a state-owned one and a public one. In the absence of any clear definition in those two directions, it has been assumed that the state-owned system should comprise those vehicles aimed at disseminating information on the activities performed by public authorities and, therefore they would be committed to the programmatic guidelines of the leaders of such bodies. The public system, in turn, would comprise vehicles with an editorial line as far removed from the logic of the interests of those ruling the commercial system, as from that of the state-run system.

• Brazil has made efforts to establish a Public Communication Corporation, financed by the Federal Government, but with institutional guarantees of freedom; and also the existence of a broad segment known as the community media.
• There is a significant expansion of institutional medias owned by the Legislative and Judiciary Branches at the federal, state and municipal levels, which have contributed to improving access to the information produced by those actors.

Community Media:

The community media is governed by its own legislation, which is a focus of tension among the stakeholders. According to the latest surveys, the ostensive mission of those broadcasters, which is to contribute to the social development of local audiences, has actually been re-directed to focus on serving local commercial, religious and political-electoral interests.

• The number of community radios in the country is growing. A survey carried out by IBGE in 2007 disclosed that 48.6% of the Brazilian municipalities now have community radios and that for the very first time, they have exceeded the number of FM (34.3%) and AM (21.2%) commercial radio stations.

Capacity building of media professionals:

There is visible and increasing concern in the Brazilian context with the efficacy, and efficiency of higher education courses in journalism, especially regarding their ability to qualify press professionals capable of covering the sophisticated agendas of human rights and human development.

• There is a need for improving the quality of training centres producing future journalists and expanding the supply of tools for the cooperation efforts with editorial staff – especially of the community media – directed at ensuring coverage more attuned to the human rights agenda.