“Welcome to Observatório da Imprensa”: public TV, interactivity, and history

Abstract

This research studies the program Observatório da Imprensa, a media criticism project, first conceived and launched as a website in 1996 (in the other words, in the early years of the Internet in Brazil) that now has its television version broadcast on public channels. The program remained on air for 18 years (from 1998 to 2016), and throughout this entire period it was hosted by its creator, journalist and press intellectual Alberto Dines. In addition to guiding debates about the press, journalism, and the media in general selecting current national and international topics, during its existence Observatório da Imprensa also produced a series of historical specials, many of which were related to commemorative dates. Over the years, it discussed these themes and broadcast specials related to them, performing a curatorial function of historical theses about the recent past of Brazil. This study, in parallel to interviews with members of the program and individuals close to its creator, used sources from digital archives, retrieving older versions of the Observatório da Imprensa website via the Internet Archive, a digital library that stores old versions of websites and other materials. This study highlights the relevance of Observatório to history of Brazilian communication and journalism, primarily by setting the agenda for debates on ethics, professional training, and the relationship between the media and democracy.