Another Fourth Branch
Press and political culture in Brazil

Afonso Albuquerque UFF
Article - Journalism - Vol. 6(4) 2005

Estudos de jornalismo tendem a primar pela comparação da retórica e maneira de fazer jornalismo norte-americano. O artigo mostra como a mídia no Brasil mantem um modelo próprio, com adaptações do modelo americano.


"I focus on the Brazilian press and demonstrate that it has appropriated the American journalistic rhetoric and
practices, adapting – rather than adopting – them to their own cultural environment".


1) Aspects of the development of the political culture in Brazil and in the United de States, in order to emphasize the differences between them.
2) The origins of the Poder Moderador, and its importance to the political system during the Brazilian Empire era (1822–1889). The survival of the Poder Moderador as a cultural model to Brazilian politics throughout the Republic (1889 to the present).
3) Differences between Brazilian and American journalistic cultures. I assert that the conditions that allowed the development of an independent journalism model in the United States have been mostly absent in the Brazilian history. I also discuss the influence that the American model of journalism has exerted in Brazil since the decade of the 1950s, and the reactions against it.
4)Ways that Brazilian journalists have appealed to the American ‘Fourth Branch’ rhetoric to legitimize their very particular demands of political authority.