Journalism and Political Democracy in Brazil

Journalism and Political Democracy in Brazil is an investigation into the complexities of the relationship established between the media and the government in the aftermath of the Brazilian dictatorship. It examines the role of the mainstream press in the process of the democratization of the Latin American nation from 1984 to 2002 and questions to what extent the communications industry was able to offer contributions to the creation of wider democratic spaces for debate in the media's public sphere.Matos concludes that the commercial media did have a role in advancing the cause of democracy in Brazil, though limited by political and economic constraints.
By focusing on the analysis of key post-dictatorship political and presidential campaigns, this book discusses the inherent tension between the media and the Brazilian state and shows how crucial the impact of these campaigns was in the formation of power hierarchies in society and politics. An important work that highlights the struggle for the wider inclusion social and political players in the media's ongoing dialogue on democratization,Journalism and Political Democracy in Brazil provides a picture of the forms of media that have grown out of the diverse political interests of Brazilian society.

Carolina Matos is a part-time Lecturer at the Government Department, University of Essex, UK, researcher and a former Fellow in Political Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She obtained her PhD in Media and Communications at Goldsmith College in January 2007. Matos has taught and researched in the UK at the University of East London (UEL), St. Mary's College at Twickenham, Goldsmith and the LSE. She has worked as a full time journalist in Brazil and the UK for many mainstream newspapers and international agencies including Reuters, Unesco, Folha de Sao Paulo, Tribuna da imprensa and Globo.com.

Matos has an extensive knowledge in the field of Media and Politics. She has also authored two books on the subject. Her first book is Journalism and Political Democracy in Brazil (2008), and her latest book is Media and Politics in Latin America (2012).