The Foreign Press Support Center, in Paris, is holding the 1st International Encounter on the Press and Media in Brazil, today, as part of the Year of Brazil in France, which got underway officially in March.
The seminar enjoys the participation of Brazilian and French journalists and media researchers and specialists from the Sorbonne University’s Institute of Advanced Latin American Studies.
One of the main topics of debate is the role of the Brazilian press vis-í -vis opinion-makers and the extent to which the printed media, television networks, and radio stations influence the public policy agenda.
Press freedom, the relationship between professionalization and diversity, and images of Brazil in the French media and images of France in the Brazilian media will also be treated.
Art, Culture and Cuisine
As part of the Year of Brazil in France, Paris is also receiving the Roots of Brazil program, a series of exhibits that demonstrate the diversity and arts of Brazilian indigenous communities. This information was provided by .
According to Márcio Meire, secretary of Institutional Relations of the Ministry of Culture, Brazilian art will also be present at the event, which began this month and will run through December.
“We will have contemporary and modern artists,” he said. In May, Paris will host an exposition on alternative environmental development projects formulated by Brazilians.
“They represent solutions and paths that permit the economic and social sustainability of communities that live in the Amazon,” Meire informed.
The participation of Africa in Brazil’s formation will also be shown. “We will present exhibits on the great force that all those who came from Africa, and who constitute a significant part of Brazil’s cultural origins, brought to Brazil.”
The country’s diversified cuisine will also deserve a prominent place during the nine months of the exposition. “Typical dishes from the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, and Pará will travel to France,” he says.
Meire emphasizes the importance of publicizing Brazilian culture in France. “France is a country that receives around 70 million tourists each year, people from all over the world who can become better acquainted with our country,” he points out.
In his view, another important aspect of the event is the economic effect. “It also helps to publicize Brazilian products, our creativity, and our technological capacity to produce export goods,” he affirms . According to Meire, this year France is already importing more from Brazil than it has in previous years.
For the secretary, the government’s policies have also ended up becoming an “export product.” He believes that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been an innovator in this regard.
“For example, Lula is placing the question of combatting hunger, as well as the necessity of creating a world fund to combat hunger and poverty, on the international agenda. And France is a country that has been one of Brazil’s partners on this issue,” he adds.
Agência Brasil