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For Brazil's elected president, the right wing Jair Bolsonaro, it's not enough to attack critical media on social media almost every day. When he takes office, his intention is to reach his ultimate goal.
Now that he will have $ 500 million in marketing budgets for the public sector at his discretion, the retired army captain is threatening to cut back on advertising purchases. in opposing media groups, attacking the financial fundamentals of the free press in Brazil.
After a campaign in which Bolsonaro dismissed the investigation reports as "false news" invented by a corrupt system and its followers persecuted by journalists. threats are beginning to worry in newsrooms around the country.
When asked in a TV interview last week he would respect press freedom, even for his biggest criticism, Folha de S.Paulo, Bolsonaro's response was brief.
"This diary is finished," Bolsonaro said in a tense interview with TV Globo. "With regard to government advertising, the press that does this will say nothing about the federal government."
Although public funds only account for a fraction of the revenues of most major media groups, the prospect of a president punishing hostile coverage has put many journalists at the limit.
Several experienced journalists working for the largest information companies in Brazil have told Reuters in recent weeks that they have begun to weaken. his critics for fear of retaliation from the Bolsonaro government and the violence of his supporters.
Brazilian news agencies said that there had been escalating threats and attacks against journalists. The group of investigative journalists Abraji began tracking incidents in the most polarized elections since the return of democracy in 1985 after two decades of military dictatorship.
Most attacks on journalists were perpetrated by supporters of Bolsonaro. according to Abraji, which has recorded more than 150 cases of threatened reporters. In the middle, there was physical violence and the rest, hate campaigns on the Internet.
"To treat the press as an antagonist is not a new tactic, but the aggressive tone and frequency of Bolsonaro's attacks are very disturbing." said the coordinator of the group, Marina Atoji.
Proponents of Bolsonaro said the Brazilian media had a left-wing bias and had to resort to social media to get news of him.
"The worst thing is that they tried to crucify Bolsonaro for his controversial statements about women, gays, and blacks," said Emilio Kerber, an Air Force commander who s & # 39; 39 is presented to Congress in the small coalition of Bolsonaro. "But Bolsonaro has millions of followers on social media and he still won."
Bolsonaro's press councilors did not respond to a request for comment. The elected president rejected all supporters who resort to violence. He declared that he respected the freedom of the press and only asked for his exercise in a responsible manner.
The price to pay
According to Folha, the meaning of the seat is palpable.
The editor, Sérgio Dávila, said: According to an interview, the newspaper took security measures to protect its journalists after the downsizing of social media criticism by supporters of Bolsonaro after the publication of news reports. a report on the use of the WhatsApp messaging platform during the campaign.
"This is the most tense election in recent years, as the mbadive use of social networks has the effect of further exposing journalists to candidates' supporters" , did he declare.
"Voters in Bolsonaro are particularly active in the country – social networks," said Davila, adding that he had never seen so many criticisms addressed to individual journalists about specific news stories.
After his election victory, Bols M. Onaro said that media groups spreading lies would be deprived of federal government advertising, which totaled R $ 1,800 million ($ 487 million) in 2017, including announcements of public companies.
TV Globo, which has dominated since the Brazilian media and shaped the public debate with their large audience, receive less than 4% of their annual revenues with public funds, said the group in a statement. Folha said that advertising in the public sector accounted for less than 5% of revenues.
Opportunity
Nevertheless, many smaller media groups treated Bolsonaro with friendly interviews and less aggressive coverage. This has fueled tensions in some places.
At Radio Guaiba, in the city of Porto Alegre, veteran TV host Juremir Machado left the studio at the end of an interview with Bolsonaro, accusing the censorship. He stated that he was not allowed to ask questions and left the program.
After billionaire media mogul and preacher Edir Macedo supported Bolsonaro, his Record TV network expanded coverage of this right-wing politician's rallies. Criticism of his rival Fernando Haddad has escalated and corruption cases have been presented in his Workers' Party, a former employee who has asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
Grupo Record did not respond to a request for comment.
His network draws attention three days before the first round of elections by broadcasting an exclusive interview with Bolsonaro at the same time that the rival TV Globo is broadcasting a presidential debate in which the candidate refuses to participate for medical reasons. . That night, the Record TV newspaper had its best audience of the year.
Other media are discovering that there is an audience for more aggressive coverage. Dávila said that Folha had seen an increase in the number of subscriptions in recent weeks.
"This was not something we asked for, it was not a campaign organized by the newspaper," he said. "Basically, they said:" Folha is a critical journalist, Bolsonaro attacks Folha, I will subscribe to Folha for solidarity ""
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