Brazil - Media

The principal telegraph network is operated by the Brazilian Postal and Telegraph Administration, in which the government holds part ownership. National trunk routes and international connections are also operated directly by another mixed corporation, the Brazilian Telecommunications Corp. (EMBRATEL), which inaugurated an earth satellite station in 1969 linking the Brazilian network with member countries of INTELSAT. EMBRATEL has rapidly modernized and extended the domestic telecommunications system with the introduction of microwave networks, including long-distance direct dialing, throughout much of the country. In the Amazon region, the company relies on a tropodiffusion system because of the area's large empty spaces. As of 1997 there were 17 million mainline telephones in use with an additional 4.4 million cellular phones in use.

Brazil has one of the largest television broadcasting systems in the world. As of 1999, Brazil had 1,365 AM and 296 FM radio stations. In 1997, there were 138 television stations. In 2000 there were about 433 radios and 343 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year there were about 50 Internet service providers, serving 11.9 million subscribers by 2001.

As of 2002, there were over 300 daily newspapers published in Brazil. The following table shows Brazil's leading daily newspapers, with their political orientation and estimated 2002 circulation:

	ORIENTATION	CIRCULATION
Rio De Janeiro
Globo	Conservative	350,000
Jornal o Dia	Labor	250,000
Jornal do Brasil	Conservative	107,000
Sao Paulo
Folha de São Paulo	Independent	640,407
Estado de São Paulo	Conservative	491,070
Noticias Populaires	NA	150,000
Jornal da Tarde	Independent	120,000
Popular da Tarde	NA	110,000
Diario Popular	NA	90,000
Folha da Tarde	Conservative	90,000
Belem
Jornal o Liberal	Liberal	110,000
Belo Horizonte
Estado de Minas	Independent	65,000
Cuiaba
Diario Oficial do Estado de Mato Grosso	NA	120,000
Porto Alegre
Zero Hora	NA	528,000
Ponta Grossa
Diario dos Campos	NA	725,000
Recife
Diário de Pernambuco	Independent	31,000
Brasília
Correio Brasiliense	NA	30,000
Jornal de Brasília	NA	25,000

The largest Brazilian-owned magazine, which competes with the Portuguese-language edition of the Reader's Digest, called Selecões, is the popular illustrated Manchete of Rio de Janeiro (1995 circulation 100,000).

Freedom of the press is guaranteed under the constitution of 1967 and no license is required for the publication of books, newspapers, and periodicals. However, under the newspaper code of 19 September 1972, newspapers were forbidden to publish "speculative" articles on politics or unfavorable reports on the economy. The interests of Brazilian journalists are defended by the Inter-American Press Association and the influential Brazilian Press Association. Newspaper staffs have traditionally enjoyed privileged status and exemption from income taxes; nevertheless, in the early 1970s, reporters were sometimes subject to arrest and alleged brutalities at the hands of the government. In 1979, practically all restrictions on the press were lifted.