Latin America is an increasingly important geopolitical entity and its nations are emerging as some of the most influential and radical states in the modern world. The media conglomerates which control the television and radio platforms in these countries, such as the Globo organization in Brazil and the Mercurial S.P.A. media corporation in Chile, have great political influence across the region. Here, Carolina Matos contrasts public service broadcasting in Latin America to that in Europe and the UK, engaging with current debates on globalisation and theories of cultural imperialism. She examines the role public media has played in the processes of national development, democratisation and international dialogue across South and Central America, arguing that it can be a powerful tool for political and social inclusion. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars of Media, Politics and Cultural Studies, as well as those with an interest in Latin American culture. As key polities, such as Brazil and Mexico, begin to flex their economic and demographic muscle, Media and Politics in Latin America is a timely examination of society and politics in the region.

Auteur

Carolina Matos is a journalist and academic 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 Goldsmiths College in January 2007, with no corrections. Matos has taught and researched in the UK at the University of East London (UEL), St. Mary's College at Twickenham, Goldsmiths 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 is also the author of Journalism and Political Democracy in Brazil (2008).

Contenu

Part One - Frameworks of Comparison for Public Service Media
Chapter 1 - The Latin American media system

Media and democracy in Latin America: setting out a debate
Introductory approaches
Media democratization across borders
Defining an intellectual framework for comparative analysis
Latin America: from underdevelopment to globalization
Latin America and global inequality
From underdevelopment and colonization to globalization
Methodological Issues
Empirical work and theoretical frameworks
Survey methods

Chapter 2 - Public communications and regulation in Latin America

The role of the state and broadcasting in the UK and the US
Regulation in the US and UK: from FCC to Ofcom
Latin America media systems: a history of neglect of public communications
Broadcasting policy and the public media in Brazil
Government's policies for the communication sector
Conclusion

Part Two - Public sphere and the public interest: the role of the state in public service media
Chapter 3 - European public service broadcasting revisited

Defining PSB and the public interest
European public service broadcasting dilemmas
History and development of PSB
Towards a framework for examining PSBs
BBC: from a history of tensions with government to funding challenges
PSBs and its relationship to governments
PSB at a crossroads: challenges in a digital age
Conclusion

Chapter 4 - Journalism for the public interest and the crisis of civic communications in the UK and Brazil

The role of the media and the public interest
Classic liberal media theory
The conservative perspective
The public sphere liberalism model
The radical democrats' critique
The crisis of public communications and quality journalism in the US and UK
Journalism cultures in Latin America and the public interest
Contemporary Brazilian journalism
Conclusion

Part Three - Television, entertainment and the public interest
Chapter 5 - Audience perceptions of quality programming and the public media

Global and local television cultures
TV as a site of resistance
TV news and the public sphere
Television and globalization
BBC and the quality journalism tradition
Audiences' interpretations of the media in the UK and Brazil
Conclusion

Chapter 6 - Television, popular culture and Latin American and Brazilian identity

International television flows: from the global media to Latin American broadcasting
Brazilian and Latin American culture as hybridity: the national identity controversy
Challenges for Latin American integration
Television and popular Brazilian culture: the aesthetic of consumerism
TV Globo and the history of Brazilian commercial television
Brazilian television, national identity and audience responses
Public (television) journalism formats: from TV Cultura to TV Brasil
Conclusion

Part Four - The Internet for the public interest: the limits and uses of the Web in Latin America
Chapter 7 - Media and politics in Latin America: political cynicism and the digital divide

Representative democracy and the political functions of the media
Media and politics: from media effects to political cynicism
Media effects theories
Political cynicism or realism?: the state of politics worldwide
The digital divide in Latin America and the challenges for information knowledge
Conclusion

Chapter 8 - Mediated politics in the 2010 Brazilian elections

Political campaigning and modernization practices in the UK and Latin America
Political trends and scandals in Brazil
The media and the 2006 presidential race
The role of the Internet and gender politics in the 2010 campaign
The benefits of networked politics
Gender politics, blogging and the presidential dispute
Conclusion

Part Five - Media democratization in Latin America: towards a politics for national development and 'alternative' globalization

General perspectives
Cosmopolitan democra