Violência contra jornalistas e qualidade da democracia: evidências da América Latina em análise comparada

This article presents the results of an investigation guided by the following question: How does violence against journalists relate to the quality of democracy in Latin America? This issue is grounded in the conceptual debate surrounding media opening, a process associated with the idea of democratization across two dimensions: the representation of social diversity and independence from official control. Among the barriers to this process is violence against journalists. This debate was empirically operationalized through the application of statistical techniques in a comparative analysis of the variable-oriented and theory-oriented nature, with a large number of cases (large n). The findings indicate that as violence against journalists increases, the level of democracy quality decreases, with a greater impact of this dimension on the former, particularly when considering the Latin American context.