Cardoso is a promoter of an innovative, economically integrated continent with firm democratic roots. He has also tried to reduce the friction between landowners and the landless. Newsweek International named Cardoso as Latin American of the year saying no other Latin leader was in charge of a country that is so vast, so sprawling, so fractious, so potentially wealthy and so effectively ungovernable. As a high-profile leftist and opponent of military rule, he was forced into exile for three years after the 1964 military coup which ushered in 21 years of harsh military rule. The media are considered to be free, being able to cover controversial social and political issues and to carry out investigative reporting.
Media ownership is highly concentrated.
Congress has licensing authority for the broadcast media and it is often politicians who obtain the licences.