The free time for political propaganda on TV gives candidates a space for autonomous communication in which their messages do not have to pass the scrutiny of media groups. This paper discusses the effectiveness of such free time on TV as opposed to TV journalism, and examines the development of the relationship between them in the four presidential elections in Brazil in the post-authoritarian period. In 1989, TV news programs welcomed the agenda put forward by candidates in their TV programs, but a closure is clear in the next elections. In 2002, the main candidates chose to join mainstream agenda and frameworks, acknowledging the inability of free TV time to change the media's agenda.
media and politics; elections; political discourse; public agenda; television
