The Periodical Press of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the 1850s: A Tale of Partisanship, Marginality, and Transiency

The periodical press during the Brazilian Empire (1822-1889) provided the central means of mass communication in terms of public affairs, political life and cultural formation. The press's structure and functioning were, however, much more complex, disreputable and uncertain than these factors might suggest.

At the start of the 1850s between sixty and seventy periodicals were published each year in Rio de Janeiro. Of these four or five appeared daily, while most of the rest came twice a week. What is most striking is the transitory nature of most of the bi-weekly periodicals, lasting at best for a few months.

                Several factors explain this instability. Neither printing presses, nor type, nor newsprint were manufactured in Brazil, all had to be imported at great cost. Few periodicals owned their own press, most depending on one of commercial presses existing in Rio de Janeiro, some twenty in the 1850s. Financing printing and other outlays was not easy. No street sales existed and subscriptions (usually for six months) were not easy to achieve, given the lamentable state of the Brazilian mail. Advertising in the modern sense did not exist. So subventions of various types, including bulk purchase of subscriptions, payment for the insertion of articles (known as an “a pedido”), pay offs for not publishing embarrassing material, or a direct subsidy to support a particular viewpoint, were indispensable.

                Compounding this lack of independence was the marginal status of many journalists. While capable of producing the attractive copy needed to make up two issues a week they were often of mulatto descent, lacking social connections and financial resources. They had to live by their wits, seize every opportunity for reward, however dubious, and survive the collapse (often repeated) of their periodicals. The journalists’ talents made them at once indispensable but also deeply suspect.