Gwen Murray
Fall 2009
Tinker Terminal Report
(Re)presenting the Periphery: Social Perspective and Brazilian Audiovisual Production
Proposal Summary
My research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil sought to answer several questions
including: How has the treatment of the urban periphery changed in commercial
media, mainly audiovisual fiction? How have joint cultural production initiatives
between commercial and community media producers negotiated questions of
audience and accountability in the presentation of social issues? Do favela residents
recognize a shift in peripheral representation in mainstream audiovisual content?
How do commercial producers evaluate their social contribution? Does the academic
community perceive these events to be representative of a larger process of social
democratization in Brazilian culture?
Events in the Field
My research started at LASA, where I was able to network with communication
professors from the Escola de Comunicação of UFRJ (ECO). Through these contacts, I
was able to attend a follow up panel and strategic planning meeting with academics
and media professionals who work with community media. Hosted by ECO, the panel
featured discussants that spoke on correlations between youth, violence and media
reception. Dr. Vicki Mayer was a discussant on this panel reviewing her work with
media ethnography and Mexican-American youth. Community media scholar, Raquel
Paiva, also invited me to observe a strategic planning session for the Laboratório de
Estudos em Comunicação Comunitária da UFRJ (LECC). This research nucleus is
devoted solely to understanding the trends, policy and development of community
media production and reception. LECC also works in solidarity with local community
media actors. These events provided a snapshot of how the local academic
community perceives issues of social inequality and its manifestation in media –
mainstream and alternative.
The principal component of my work in the field was participant observation
with social group Atitude Social and their musical education project Aos Pés da Santa
Marta. Situated in the Santa Marta favela in Rio de Janeiro, Atitude Social is a
1
community organized and sustained cultural heritage group that works with
community members to teach music and dance. I spent two days a week at Santa
Marta observing pedagogical methods and documenting program participants and
the sociospatial environment at large. Santa Marta is known in Rio as a “favela
modelo” meaning that with the recent installation of military police battalions, violent
crime has ebbed considerably making the community a prime location for state
operated projects in urban beautification and development. One of the most exciting
developments – for both residents and local advocates – was the creation of a
wireless network in Santa Marta. Of course, simply having access to Internet service
does not ensure that residents have access to information. There are related issues
in terms of equipment access and usability.
After observing community members documenting Aos Pés da Santa Marta
with cell phone cameras and video, I began to produce my own multimedia, making
short videos, taking pictures (letting some kids use my camera to capture Santa
Marta) and also recording rehearsals. The idea was that these media can be used to
supplement materials already present on the program’s website to communicate
more effectively the scope and nature of their work.
The third primary area of research was media gathering. I scoured magazine
banks (and the O Globo daily periodical) for any information on the periphery and its
presentation. Slowly, as I began to observe the presence of a much larger digital
culture in Brazil, my media gathering shifted to issues of digitalization,
democratization of access and new media. I was able to gather many articles, a
complete multimedia kit from Globo and independent primary sources on web trends
and digital culture not only in Rio, but in all of Brazil.
Finally, with the assistance of Dr. Mauro Porto, I was able to sit down with Luis
Erlanger, director of Globo’s central communications. In our hour and a half long
interview we touched on everything from the differences between social
merchandising and social content, to Globo-led public service campaigns, to future
projects and co-productions between community and mainstream media producers.
Summary of Relevant Findings
2
My research produced two actionable data sources. The first was the
revelation of the potency of digital media culture in Brazil. While in Santa Marta, the
biggest challenge I faced was that community members were very hesitant to talk
about social politics. I approached the subject from many angles, but had difficulty
gaining entry on such a loaded subject. Initially, I had wanted to conduct a survey on
TV viewing habits and social perspective within the miniseries Cidade dos Homens.
Although many scenes from the show were filmed in Santa Marta, residents were
disinterested. After a couple visits, I realized that digital culture had saturated even
Santa Marta. The real story here was not about their reception of the periphery in
mainstream media, rather how Santa Marta residents engaged with new media
through the documentation of their community. Media production was happening at
a very basic level through the use of cell phones. These media served primarily social
purposes.
The second piece of actionable data is my Luis Erlanger interview. Not only did
he send me home with books and multimedia classroom tools from a Globo initiative
that addressed racial difference, he clued me in to Globo’s mission to discuss social
issues in television fiction and to find new projects and talent outside of their regular
talent pool. In accord with other research, these learnings demonstrate further media
opening.
Future Opportunities for Investigation
Though I did not answer all of my research questions, I did come closer to
understanding how Globo evaluates their social role and also how joint productions
are deepening an understanding of social difference in Brazilian television fiction.
Two additional lines of study that stem from this research. The first is Globo’s
integrated multimedia campaigns that bridge the world of the TV imaginary to
infiltrate the classroom and sites of public opinion formation to drive social change.
The second is the digitalization of urban culture and how new technologies are
changing notions of access, communication and representation for marginal
communities. These technologies are not just development tools, as many scholars
have previously theorized; they are in fact important social tools used to entertain
and connect with friends and also mainstream popular cultures.
3