This article takes a detailed look at how censorship of the press was administered under the military regime in Brazil throughout the 1960’s and 70’s. It discusses the progression of acts, laws, and other orders put into place. Peter T. Johnson discusses how the government was able to use force in order to gain the power to determine which media was allowed to be published. This, of course, was all media that questioned the regime, included studies of the 1964 coup. The article also discusses the censorship of literature. Johnson discusses how the government forced literature to be about the past and have themes of traditionalism, to distract from the crimes committed by the government. Finally, Johnson discusses how the government incentivizes and forces publications to censor themselves. This was through the government subsidization of publishing companies and other such institutions, gaining the power to influence them into censoring themselves.
This article shines a very clear light on how the government censored media in Brazil. It discusses specific acts and laws, mentions specific examples of books and publications that were censored, and cites statements from the government itself. Johnson doesn’t discuss music in the article, but it is very easy to see how everything the article mentions can be applied to the censorship of lyrics. Songwriters publish their lyrics, so it would make sense that they would have to go through similar channels as academics, film and tv producers, etc. in order to avoid censorship. Through this article, one can get the most in depth look into the censorship process out of all of the sources being cited.
“Basic decisions on the term of the Presidency, elections and means for the implementation of economic policy reduced or eliminated popular participation, thereby strengthening authoritarianism at the expense of democratic processes.” (Johnson, 5)
Johnson, Peter T. “Academic Press Censorship under Military and Civilian Regimes: The Argentine and Brazilian Cases, 1964-1975.” Luso-Brazilian Review 15, no. 1 (1978): 3–25.