12:04AM
Brazil targets Africa . . . with media!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 12:04AM
Outgoing Brazilian president Lula da Silva announces that TV Brasil, a Portuguese-language network will target former Portuguese colonies in Africa (there are a bunch) via rebroadcast through Mozambique. In all, 49 nations will be targeted (out of 55 on the continent or on neighboring islands).
Lula presents this as a pure soft-power play:
I want a channel that speaks well of the country, that can show Brazil as it really is.
The biggest draws will be Brazilian soccer and soap operas, which already have a large following there. These two are big media draws in the Western hemisphere as well.
Reader Comments (1)
China is also doing something like this. They are planning a Chinese version CNN/Al-Jazeera to focus on Africa, Latin America & SE Asia.