“Post-truth, disinformation or fake news are born from the perverse marriage between populism and polarization. Both feed back into post-truth. We have to look at this not as a privilege of the political left or right, but rather as a human conduct for the maintenance of power.”
With this statement, Eneas Carlos Pereira, programming director at the Padre Anchieta Foundation (TV Cultura), opened his speech at the 1st International Congress of Public Broadcasters, held on May 21–22 at USP’s University City campus in São Paulo. His remarks were part of the panel The Contributions and Strategies of Public Broadcasters in Combating Disinformation and Promoting Democracy.
Technological Evolution
According to Eneas, the rise of new technologies and software has dramatically accelerated the spread of disinformation, amplifying the reach and impact of fake news. “From this, we came to understand the rise of fake news in the 2010s, with the birth of digital farms in Russia, which end up manifesting themselves first in the election of Trump, then in the rise of authoritarian governments in Poland and Hungary, for example,” he said.
He noted that public communication has not kept pace with these shifts in the media landscape. “There is a new way of enjoying content. People today absorb content in a distinctive way. One-hour programs no longer have the same functionality,” he said.
Importance of communication
Radio and television audiences play a fundamental role in the field of communication. For the director, audience numbers are not a premise, but a consequence. “If we’re not communicating right, we’re doing it wrong. We deal with a good spirit, with the formation of citizens. We are not dealing with a market good,” he stated.
Eneas Pereira also emphasized that the academic environment – with its wealth of laboratories and research – is essential for developing effective methods of popular communication.
At the end of his remarks during the panel at the congress, the director underscored the role of journalism as an independent force. “If it is not independent, it is not journalism, it is press relations. As we are public broadcasters, we demand a relationship with the government. Which does not mean being subservient. We have to be open to all the movements and pulsations of society,” he added.
*Intern under the supervision of Marcello Rollemberg
English version: Nexus Traduções, edited by Denis Pacheco
