MADRID, 15 Jan. (.) –
The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has dismissed by decree the management of all Brazilian public media outlets as a result of their treatment of the takeover of the three public powers in Brasilia on January 8.
The decision was adopted on Friday night and includes the appointment of journalist Kariane Costa as president of the Brazilian Communication Company (EBC), on which key media outlets such as the Agencia Brasil news agency, TV Brasil or the Radio station depend. National. The measure implies the opening of a transition and reorganization process in the EBC that will last about 30 days, the Brazilian Presidency reported in a statement.
The Brazilian press highlights that the direction of these media outlets was still in the hands of officials appointed by the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose supporters stormed Congress, the presidential palace and the seat of the Federal Supreme Court a week ago.
It was precisely the coverage of these events that would have been the trigger for the changes, since while most of the Brazilian media referred to Bolsonaro’s supporters as “vandals” or “coup plotters”, the public media maintained the term “protesters”, Government sources quoted by the newspaper ‘Folha de Sao Paulo’ have reported.
Another source explained that they feared even more radical coverage by media outlets run by people close to Bolsonaro and the possible spread of anti-democratic ideas or even technical sabotage to interrupt broadcasts and appearances by the Presidency.
The day after the assault on the three powers, the TV Brasil news broadcast statements by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president, which was interpreted as a provocation by politicians from the ruling Workers’ Party (PT).
