On May 29, thousands of people took to the streets in over 200 cities in Brazil in order to protest against President Jair Bolsonaro and his Covid-19 policies. The protests were called by People without Fear (Povo sem Medo), Popular Brazil (Brasil Popular), and the Black Coalition for Rights (Coalizão Negra por Direitos) which usually bring together hundreds of social movements. Minorities, indigenous people as well as those living in poorer areas in Brazil have been affected the most by the pandemic and the government’s policies and for this reason protests against President Bolsonaro have become more frequent in the country.

Although May’s protests were the were the largest protests in the country since the pandemic began, much of the media simply ignored them. Apart from the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, the country’s largest TV channels, including GloboNews and CNN, as well as largest newspapers, including O Globo and Estadão, did not cover the protests live. At the same time Jornal Nacional, the main news programme of Brazil’s largest TV channel, Rede Globo, devoted little time to the protests.

Full article at Media Diversity Institute’s website. Date of publication: 23/06/2021.