Part One - Frameworks of Comparison for Public Service Media Chapter 1 - The Latin American media system Media and democracy in Latin America: setting out a debate Introductory approaches Media democratization across borders Defining an intellectual framework for comparative analysis Latin America: from underdevelopment to globalization Latin America and global inequality From underdevelopment and colonization to globalization Methodological Issues Empirical work and theoretical frameworks Survey methods Chapter 2 - Public communications and regulation in Latin America The role of the state and broadcasting in the UK and the US Regulation in the US and UK: from FCC to Ofcom Latin America media systems: a history of neglect of public communications Broadcasting policy and the public media in Brazil Government''s policies for the communication sector Conclusion Part Two - Public sphere and the public interest: the role of the state in public service media Chapter 3 - European public service broadcasting revisited Defining PSB and the public interest European public service broadcasting dilemmas History and development of PSB Towards a framework for examining PSBs BBC: from a history of tensions with government to funding challenges PSBs and its relationship to governments PSB at a crossroads: challenges in a digital age Conclusion Chapter 4 - Journalism for the public interest and the crisis of civic communications in the UK and Brazil The role of the media and the public interest Classic liberal media theory The conservative perspective The public sphere liberalism model The radical democrats'' critique The crisis of public communications and quality journalism in the US and UK Journalism cultures in Latin America and the public interest Contemporary Brazilian journalism Conclusion Part Three - Television, entertainment and the public interest Chapter 5 - Audience perceptions of quality programming and the public media Global and local television cultures TV as a site of resistance TV news and the public sphere Television and globalization BBC and the quality journalism tradition Audiences'' interpretations of the media in the UK and Brazil Conclusion Chapter 6 - Television, popular culture and Latin American and Brazilian identity International television flows: from the global media to Latin American broadcasting Brazilian and Latin American culture as hybridity: the national identity controversy Challenges for Latin American integration Television and popular Brazilian culture: the aesthetic of consumerism TV Globo and the history of Brazilian commercial television Brazilian television, national identity and audience responses Public (television) journalism formats: from TV Cultura to TV Brasil Conclusion Part Four - The Internet for the public interest: the limits and uses of the Web in Latin America Chapter 7 - Media and politics in Latin America: political cynicism and the digital divide Representative democracy and the political functions of the media Media and politics: from media effects to political cynicism Media effects theories Political cynicism or realism?: the state of politics worldwide The digital divide in Latin America and the challenges for information knowledge Conclusion Chapter 8 - Mediated politics in the 2010 Brazilian elections Political campaigning and modernization practices in the UK and Latin America Political trends and scandals in Brazil The media and the 2006 presidential race The role of the Internet and gender politics in the 2010 campaign The benefits of networked politics Gender politics, blogging and the presidential dispute Conclusion Part Five - Media democratization in Latin America: towards a politics for national development and ''alternative'' globalization General perspectives Cosmopolitan democra.