Faces of social participation in Brazilian public service broadcasting

Abstract

The publicness of public broadcasting has historically been discussed on the basis of normative models found in developed countries or from the standpoint of public interest. However, this research agenda has difficulty dealing with the Brazilian system, since it does not fit the models, and faces a range of problems from the political-partisan use to the strictly commercial use. This paper analyzes participation, a democratic principle that is being increasingly valued in many spheres of society, as a factor to set the publicness to public broadcasting. Thus, I discuss participation through analysis of the various formats intervention of society in companies and stations can have. The review of the participatory arrangements is guided by three dimensions: programming, financing and management of public broadcasting corporations.

Keywords: public service broadcasting, participation, public interest.