The Knight Center’s blog “Journalism in the Americas” features a new map pinpointing the instances of media censorship in Brazil that have occurred in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 3 elections for president, all 27 governors, and members of federal and state legislatures. Journalists are invited to consult the map as they prepare to cover the election.
The map by Knight Center blogger Maíra Magro illustrates how journalists and media have experienced acts of censorship in at least nine states in each of Brazil’s five main regions: the north, northeast, central west, southeast, and south. It was inspired by a similar map prepared by Brazilian journalist Marcelo Soares during elections in 2008.
Magro’s map specifically tracks judicial decisions, legislation, and acts by government institutions that have prohibited journalists and media from reporting without restrictions on the campaign. The censorship has taken various forms. In the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, for example, police confiscated 850 copies of the weekly newspaper Impacto Campo Grande for criticizing the state’s governor, who is running for reelection. Also in the state, a journalist was banned from publishing news about a senator who accused the journalist of attacking his honor.
In the northeastern state of Paraíba, the map reveals eight acts of censorship, including several in which politicians successfully obtained court orders to ban local media from publishing information about them.
The map is the first in a series of original content that will be produced by the Knight Center’s blogs in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
By Dean Graber
http://knightcenter.utexas.edu
