SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

 Starting from the point of view that since 1964 military influence is a fact in many, if not in all, sectors of Brazilian society, this study was undertaken within a perspective of the influence of the military, through which present Brazilian regulation, and the political and socioeconomic conditions during the 1964 to 1980 period were considered in reference to television.

Summary of the Findings

 Brazilian television was established in 1950 as an electronic toy of the economic elite. During its first decade it was a luxury. During the sixties, when the country was struggling for development and modernization, television was considered a proof of modernity. During the seventies, it became a priority for each Brazilian family. Thus, Brazilian television underwent, between 1950 and 1979, three distinct phases: (1) the elitist when improvisation was common and the audiences were limited; (2) the populist-sensationalist; (3) the technical, during which the medium was characterized by technical improvement, by the search for "cultural standards," and by the national production of television programming.

During television's first decade, all programs were locally produced. However, when the video tape recorder and the "telecine" machine were introduced during the sixties, television began to import films and shows. During the seventies, after the Brazilians had already developed their technical skills, national production was again undertaken. Therefore, we can conclude that television was affected by the introduction of new electronic equipment, as well as by the technological facilities (microwave, satellite, and color-system) established by the government.

As discussed in chapter 2, the Escola Superior de Guerra provided the 1964 military regime not only with a doctrine of "Security and Development,' but also with military and civilian graduates, through whom the government "hoped to win the support of opinion leaders all over the country. (1) It was on that doctrine and its objectives that the National Security Council based and projected the National Objectives and the National Security Law. The economic development model, which directly affected television in its economic-miracle phase, was based on those objectives.

In Brazil the short-term and the long-term responses of the military regime were geared toward accelerating order, progress, security, and modernization, including strong state participation in the economy, friendliness to multinational investment, and development of basic conditions for national integration through the telecommunication system. The military regime contributed directly and indirectly to the development of Brazilian television, which benefited from the social, political, and economic situation of the period between 1964 and 1980.

It should be noted that the mass media, principally radio and television, were used by the military regime to promote a new social and developmental order. The regime used broadcast media in order to build a national spirit based on the preservation of Brazilian beliefs, culture, and values, and through which the revolutionary movement's aspirations and concepts of development, peace, and integrity were to be imposed on the Brazilian people. In order that its messages might reach the entire population and that this proof of modernity might be expanded throughout the country, it improved operational and technical conditions. In doing so, it contributed to the development and dissemination of television throughout the nation.

The 1964 military regime promoted the most important structural changes in the telecommunications sector by establishing the Ministry of Communications and its respective departments and enterprises. The establishment of the Ministry of Communications contributed to the reduction of power of some broadcast regulatory agencies to which broadcast enterprises had had earlier access. Interference by and influence of private organizations over regulatory agencies was thus reduced. (2)

Television was directly affected by regulations passed during the military regime, as well as by the institutions established by it. The Press Law, the National Security Law, the National Code of Telecommunications (through which the government supervises television), and, principally, the five Institutional Acts of the military regime affected the development of Brazilian television. It should be recalled that the Institutional Acts, especially no.5, were, among other things, intensively used to justify federal intervention without constitutional safeguards.

The initial growth of Brazilian television was attributed to political favoritism, in that the concession of television channels was made without a preconceived plan. After the establishment of the Ministry of Communications and after taking into account not only national necessities but also the National Security Council’s objectives of national development and integration, the concession of television channels began to be more planned. Licenses continued to be granted to groups, which would take a supportive attitude toward the military regime's actions, however.

The strongest political influence on the growth of Brazilian television occurred in 1964, when President João Goulart was overthrown by a coup d'état. The coup affected television stations directly because both the political system and the socioeconomic situation of the country were totally modified by the adoption of a military development-model.

Because the mass media were accepted by the military regime as agents of modernization and as a tool for the maintenance of national integration, national security, and social peace, the military also began to be concerned with television content. Broadcast enterprises are under government control, which, besides concession of licenses and allocation of frequencies, encompasses a series of political considerations, which include censorship and direct governmental recommendations concerning programming content.

The military regime only began to be concerned with the content of programs in 1970. From Médici's administration through Geisel¹s, the government began to express vehement disapproval of the violence and lack of "cultural standards" on television. Some speeches recommended that broadcasters look for a noble objective for Brazilian commercial television, and that it "must be entrusted with a great deal of responsibility in respect to culture, education and national efforts for development. (3)

Those recommendations exerted a strong influence on television networks, which were continually reminded of their responsibilities to national development and national culture. As a result of the recommendations, admonitions, criticism, and suggestions from the government, television nationalized its programs, which today are typically Brazilian in treatment, theme, and style. If Brazilian television, in itself, is neither good nor bad, at least it presents a Brazilian standard, which has in TV Globo Network its best example of success.

There is also a close relationship between the growth of television and Brazil's economic and social development. The development of Brazilian television is directly correlated with factors such as urbanization and industrialization and the level of literacy, as well as with the increase of GNP and per capita income, better income distribution, and the increase in advertising expenditure.

One of the principal factors of the growth of Brazilian television was the military regime's economic development model, whose best result was the so-called Brazilian Economic Miracle (1969-1974). As a reflection of the economic development between 1969 and 1980, there also occurred in Brazil what can be called a television boom. The military regime granted 67 licenses for television channels to private enterprises throughout the national territory. At the same time, the production of TV receivers was increased and direct credit to the consumer facilitated the purchase of TV sets and goods produced by Brazilian industries and advertised on television.

The fast growth of Brazilian television between 1964 and 1980 is a direct and indirect result of the military regime’s policies. Because of this, television has reflected the regime’s positive and negative influences. As a consequence of national growth under a political-military system geared to generate goods, luxury service, and social welfare, Brazilian television has been used to promote entertainment, to encourage consumption, and to diffuse Brazil's economic achievement and, at the same time, to perpetuate the military regime’s image.

Commentary

In the early sixties, both military personnel and civilians were aware of the necessity for change and were looking for methods to develop, integrate, and modernize the country. After the 1964 coup d¹6tat, the military people found the opportunity to achieve an economic development model based on the Escola Superior de Guerra's doctrine of "Security and Development," from which the National Security Council's objectives were established. These objectives have since been applied by all administrations of the military regime.

Coincidentally, in the sixties both UNESCO and the United States were advising the utilization of mass media communication to promote national development. Developed countries like the United States were the models for underdeveloped or developing countries. It should be noted that during the fifties and the early sixties, development was centered around economic growth, and industrialization was considered the principal factor of development. (4)

Considering that the Brazilian military regime economic model had as its objectives the increase of GNP and per capita income, and the provision of a strong industrial base, to provide the country with a strong industry; the creation of a telecommunications system to be used to promote national security and national development and to eliminate illiteracy, one can say that Brazil was one of the few countries that accepted the UNESCO and United States proposals of the sixties for using radio and television to promote educational and socioeconomic development. We can infer this because the 1964 military regime stimulated structural changes in the telecommunications sector by creating the Ministry of Communications, among other official institutions, which built the technical facilities which allowed the rapid dissemination of television stations throughout the country. As minister of communications Hygino Corsetti (1969-1974) said, "TV is not just a dynamic medium due to its potential for communication. We must not forget that today, for us, TV is also a factor of development, a precious tool for social and economic integration. (5)

Taking into account that, at that time, television was high on the list of proofs of modernization, the military regime spent a great deal of effort to disseminate that "proof" throughout the country. Through radio and television, the regime could inform people of the regime’s undertakings; as well as reach both the literate and illiterate.

Those who are familiar with the theories and uses of mass media to promote development know that media alone do not cause development; they do help it, however. Mass communication can be of great usefulness in the promotion of development if it is used at the right moment and with the right message and directed toward the right group. However, economic and social development can occur with or without mass media. (6)

In the specific case of the Brazilian military regime, national development and national security were promoted by means of the adoption of one series of Institutional Acts, which permitted the military regime to impose the new order without restrictions from laws or the constitution. At the same time, mass media communications, principally television and radio, were intensively used to stimulate the national spirit, to infuse and to transmit a public confidence in what the military administration was doing. "A sophisticated experiment has been performed whereby sensitive social issues have given way to the idea of the triumph of Brazil’s economic achievement, with which both wealthy businessmen and the urban poor, who have to feed hungry families on a minimum wage, are encouraged to identify ". (7)

These are important points because since 1964 exceptional measures have been adopted and things that should have be impossible were realized in a short time. As Nely Camargo says,

The fact is understandable if we consider that the present Brazilian government is a revolutionary one. Exceptional measures must be short-term ones and must be seen in a revolutionary context. This means that there is a strong and conscious dynamic interaction between the Brazilian mass media, "intelligentsia," the government and public opinion, towards a communication policy which equates best, in the field of information, individual goals and constitutional rights, the interests and needs of the media, as enterprises, and the highest objectives and interests for the nation's development as defined by the government's plans and programs. (8)

Despite regulations reserving the ownership of mass media only for Brazilians, and despite the military regime's concerns about the preservation of Brazilian cultural values, the mass media, principally television, are more and more under the control of foreign groups because of the high degree of dependence on advertising. It should be noted that the largest advertisers in Brazil are multinational corporations, which are exerting their influence on Brazilian society by means of program sales, technology, flow of entertainment, market orientation, advertising, and so forth. The transnational corporations are, according many scholars, imposing their tastes, values, and lifestyles, and controlling the mass media by making them financially dependent on advertising. It is important to note that if the Brazilian mass media, especially television, are financially dependent on advertising; transnational corporations can easily control communication content.

In addition, if one considers that TV-network conglomerates, such as Globo organization includes other organizations, such as magazine, newspapers, film companies, record companies, and radio station, it is easy to conclude that Brazilian public interest, tastes, beliefs, culture, and values are under the control of corporations, which are creating a structure of dependence in order to reinforce their values and impose their products on Brazilian society.

It would be foolish to attempt any suggestion for changing or controlling this situation at the present time because it is a result of the capitalist system of western society in which Brazil is included and because it is a result of the economic model adopted by the Brazilian government in order to promote national development through the industrialization of the country with foreign capital. However, this topic can be included by government officials and Brazilian scholars in future discussions of mass media in Brazil, especially since multinational advertising will exert more and more influence on the social functions of Brazilian television in particular, and on the social functions of mass media communications in general.

The Future of Brazilian

Television

Undoubtedly, Brazilian television is living its golden age. Scholars blame television for producing foreign values to Brazilian behavior and culture. At the same time, Brazil is being accused by neighboring countries of culturally invading their territories and imposing Brazilian culture through radio and television. A similar phenomenon is found between the United States and Canada (9).

According to Francisco Costa e Silva, the regional delegate of Dentel (National Department of Telecommunications) in the state of Paraná, there is a national plan to distribute radio and television channels throughout Brazil's frontier area (see table 3) (10)

Brazil is to install three television channels in Foz do Iguaçu, on the border with Argentina and Paraguay, and thus, all borders with these two countries will be reached by six Brazilian broadcasting stations and retransmitters located in the state of Paraná.

Many people in Argentina and in Paraguay are worried about the Brazilian advance and are now trying to block it. In the province of Missiones, which borders Brazil, the Argentines are building a series of retransmitters for their own channels. Paraguay is establishing a TV station in Puerto Strossner, in the vicinity of Foz do Iguaçu'.

The Brazilian electronic invasion, or "the electronic war," as it was called by the Brazilian weekly newsmagazine Veja, is more intense and can be measured by the number of radio stations in that area (see table 3). (11) According to Veja, these three countries (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay) are successively increasing the power of their radio stations. According to journalist Teresa Furtado of Veja, in Puerto Strossner, a city of one hundred thousand inhabitants, the influence of Brazilian television is so intense that a lot of people are able to speak Portuguese correctly. She states that the young people have in the last few years started to incorporate typically Brazilian expressions into their vocabularies. She also says that the population of that border area admires Brazilian soap operas, principally Globo’ s. (12)

 Some Limitations of this Study

There are some influences, other than the military regime, that should have helped or contributed to the dissemination of TV in Brazil. Among them are the fact that Portuguese is the only official language and that it is used uniformly throughout the country; the influence of the Catholic church and various cultural groups; the advertising concentration on television; and the process of internal migration, which began before the advent of television, and therefore before the military regime. As a result of that intensive migration, the Brazilian urban population today is greater than the rural population. If one considers that television in Brazil was basically an urban phenomenon and that it continues to be urban-based and urban-oriented, the process of urbanization was bound to have had a strong influence on the growth of television. A large audience is almost tantamount to high profits. It should be noted that only during the last 5 years, thanks to the military regime's concern with territorial integration, could television signals be received in practically all points of the national territory.

PREFACE / INTRODUCTION / 1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF BRAZILIAN TELEVISION / 2. THE IMPACT OF THE MILITARY REGIME ON TELEVISION / 3. THE INFLUENCE OF COMMUNICATION LAWS AND REGULATORY AGENCIES ON THE GROWTH OF TELEVISION / 4. POLITICAL INFLUENCES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TELEVISION / 5. SOCIOECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TELEVISION / 6.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS / 7. NOTES / 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY / 9. ABOUT THE AUTHOR