Rede Globo's Bias

By: F. Lebl​

If you live in Brazil, whether you have cable television at home or not, you have heard of and have watched the channel Rede Globo. Not only have you probably watched Globo, but you have also viewed Grupo Globo’s subsidiaries, like SporTV and Globo News, among others. Not only does Grupo Globo own dozens of channels, radio stations and magazines, but its the largest media conglomerate in the whole of Latin America.
 
Now, why am I telling you all this? If you still haven’t understood, I should give you a bit of context. There have been many inconsistencies displayed on the network, and of course, like most news networks, Globo tends to side more towards one side of the political spectrum. Yet that is not my criticism. My claims are not biased against any ideology nor political preference; I am against the gaping blindness brought forward by some reports made by the Globo Channels and how they reflect poorly on Brazilian journalism.
 
Some examples are the 1989 elections, the 2010 elections and the assassination of Marielle Franco.
 
Rede Globo, which is now linked to leftist ideologies, was accused of having manipulated Lula’s speech in the presidential debate. In Rede Globo’s reshowing of the debate, the network highlighted Fernando Collor’s best moments and Lula’s, who was sick at the time, worst moments during the Jornal Nacional. The Worker’s Party (PT) even appealed to the Supreme Court (STF) that asked for new excerpts from the debate were to be shown, but the judiciary process was rejected. Also, Collor later admitted Globo favoured him in the dispute.
 
In the 2010 elections, Globo was accused of favoring José Serra, a political candidate for PSDB against Dilma Rousseff. The network not only exaggerated news about physical aggression for the candidate but released a jingle about its 45th anniversary; which coincidentally was Serra’s party’s number. Once again, Globo tried justifying their actions by saying this campaign was published before the candidacy was announced, yet journalists quickly caught the network’s hypocrisy.
 
Finally, in a more recent case, the network was censored by the Rio de Janeiro judiciary power as it revealed and endangered a criminal investigation by the Polícia Civil. The ongoing investigation was on the assassination of a municipal representative for the state of Rio de Janeiro called Marielle Franco, and this news exposé has been seen as a political attack against the Bolsonaro government from the network. Even though Globo told this censorship was an attack against Brazilian journalism, the violation of the police’s confidentiality was dangerous, aggressive and volatile, and caused a lot of political turmoil on unproven claims.
 
Whether you are a firm believer in the current government, a staunch opposer, or somewhere in between, you will understand the dangers of having Rede Globo as your primary Brazilian news source. Its manipulative actions can be interpreted as schemes and aren’t acting responsibly like a network of their size should.
 
Please, for your own good, if you would like to be well informed by a Brazilian news source read the Estadão; a reliable source that aims to inform and not persuade. The unreliable press shouldn’t define the competence of the nation.