BETWEEN THE PLENARY AND THE STUDIO: A LEGAL LOOK ON THE USE OF MEDIA BY PARLIAMENTARIANS IN THE STATE ASSEMBLY OF MINAS GERAIS

Abstract

This article discusses the use of media by parliamentarians under a legal perspective, based on a case study involving members of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais. It begins with the hypothesis that some practices adopted by members conflict with rules and principles of Brazilian law. The research arguments can be divided into four main areas: i) the commercial ads done by deputies are dissonant to administrative morality; ii) the imbalances generated by media overexposure goes against equality; iii) the parliamentarians absences due to appointments as a result of their activities in the media hurts parliamentary regulations; and iv) the accumulation of
positions allows for questionability given the incompatibilities listed in the Federal and State Constitutions. The article concludes by saying that it is necessary to create regulatory provisions that seek to tackle some of these practices and to strengthen the mechanisms to xamine
individual cases.