Janja uses TV Brasil structure to do live on government actions

First lady Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja, used the structure of TV Brasil to do a live this Tuesday afternoon (7) to promote actions by the federal government in the face of violence against women. The PT itself had already criticized the practice during the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Janja presented the program “Papo de Respeito”, broadcast on YouTube, with the participation of Minister Cida Gonçalves, for Women, and actress Luana Xavier. Janja occupies the Office of Strategic Actions in Public Policies, a position yet to be made official by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), but which already has its own space on the third floor of the Planalto Palace.

Right at the beginning of the live, Janja mentioned the promise made by Lula during the electoral campaign to recreate the Ministry of Women, which effectively ended up happening shortly after taking office. “One of the key pieces of President Lula’s campaign was the recreation of the Women’s Ministry,” she said.

The presentation continued as a chat about tackling violence against women until Janja questioned Cida Gonçalves about “how are we working at the public policy level, how are we working with this protection network”.

Cida mentioned some actions of the federal government, such as investments in the Casa da Mulher Brasileira, which “was born in 2013 with President Dilma [Rousseff, PT]and is the result of an analysis of the policy that was born with President Lula”, among others announced this Wednesday (8), in a ceremony at the Planalto Palace.

Criticism of the use of public TV

The broadcast divided opinions on social media and was heavily criticized by social movements, including the Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL). In a post on Twitter, he said that “EBC cost BRL 1 billion per year, increased the audience and employed the teammates. Bolsonaro called TV Lula and promised to privatize it. Not privatized. Lula returns, EBC remains state-owned, now with Janja presenting”.

In 2021, a group of PT federal deputies presented a criminal notice to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) against former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL, without a party at the time) for having used TV Brasil for a live.

In a note to People’s GazetteEmpresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC) said that it complies with the service provision contract signed with the Secretariat of Social Communication (Secom), and that the agreement “includes live transmissions, based on demand defined by Secom”.

“We also point out that the first lady is not a presenter of any TV Brasil program.

At the beginning of the year, the Minister of the Secretariat for Social Communication (Secom), Paulo Pimenta, said that he would hold a “wide debate” on a possible restructuring of the EBC. According to him, the government intends to resume the two television channels it had before the unification, with NBR – government TV responsible for publicizing government actions, and TV Brasil an independent channel. “We want to offer the country a proposal for our EBC,” he said.

Through social media, the first lady said that “our first Respect Talk is taking place! An important conversation full of information about tackling violence against women”. However, she did not comment on the use of the public TV structure to carry out lives on government actions.

PT also did not comment on the realization of the live. However, he retweeted a post by President Lula about the broadcast on the party’s official Twitter account.