Jornal Nacional is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian news program

News program

A news program, news programme, news show, or newscast is a regularly scheduled radio or television program that reports current events. News is typically reported in a series of individual stories that are presented by one or more anchors...

 aired by Rede Globo

Rede Globo

Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...

 since September 1, 1969. It was the first news program broadcast live by a television network throughout Brazil.

History

Jornal Coval premiered on September 1, 1969, hosted by Hilton Gomes and Cid Moreira.

During the 1970s

1970s

File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...

, Jornal Nacional preferred to emphasize international news and sports. The gales

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 documentary Beyond Citizen Kane

Beyond Citizen Kane

Beyond Citizen Kane is a British documentary film directed by Simon Hartog, produced by John Ellis, and broadcast on Channel 4.It details the dominant position of the Rede Globo media group in the Brazilian society, discussing the group's influence, power, and political connections...

 suggests that this happened so that Globo wouldn't have to report the repression of the military dictatorship, which would had provided a substantial part of the network's growth.

Through the 1980s

1980s

File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

, three episodes involving the program caused controversy. In 1982, Jornal Nacionals coverage of the state elections of Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro (state)

Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...

 was accused of participating in a plot to fraud the elections. According to former Rede Globo employee Roméro da Costa Machado, Leonel Brizola

Leonel Brizola

Leonel de Moura Brizola was a Brazilian politician. Launched in politics by Getúlio Vargas, Brizola was the only politician to serve as governor of two different states in the whole history of Brazil. In 1959 he was elected governor of Rio Grande do Sul, and in 1982 and 1990 he was elected...

, a candidate of the opposition to the military regime, was a politician historically persecuted by Rede Globo owner Roberto Marinho

Roberto Marinho

Roberto Pisani Marinho was the president and founder of the biggest Brazilian TV channel, Globo, a television network with 113 stations and associates...

. Two years later, the program was accused of omitting information about the Diretas Já

Diretas Já

Diretas Já Now) was a civil unrest movement which, in 1984, demanded direct presidential elections in Brazil.-Participants of the movement: The movement brought together diverse elements of Brazilian society. Participants came from a broad spectrum of political parties, trade unions, civil,...

, a popular campaign for the end of the dictatorship. Finally, in 1989, Jornal Nacional was accused of editing a presidential debate between runoff candidates Fernando Collor and Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in order to favour Collor. This episode is also extensively debated on Beyond Citizen Kane.

In the 1990s

1990s

File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

, the quality of Rede Globo's journalism increased dramatically. Jornal Nacional presented its viewers breaking stories such as police brutality

Police brutality

Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....

 at favela

Favela

A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...

s, an interview with Paulo César Farias

Paulo Cesar Farias

Paulo Cesar Farias was the political campaign treasurer of Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello and a central figure in the corruption scandal that resulted in Collor's 1992 removal from Brazil's presidential office....

 when he was on the run from the law, corruption cases on the social security

Social security

Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...

, among several others.

In recent days, after the death of Marinho, Rede Globo's journalism again declined in quality. Jornal Nacional has preferred to broadcast stories produced on the Southeast

Southeast Region, Brazil

The Southeast Region of Brazil is composed by the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. It is the richest region of the country, responsible for approximately 60% of the Brazilian GDP. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais are three richest states of Brazil,...

, in spite of Globo having affiliates in every Brazilian state. During the so-called Mensalão scandal

Mensalão scandal

The Mensalão scandal took place in Brazil in 2005 and threatened to bring down the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Mensalão is a neologism and variant of the word for "big monthly payment"...

 and the 2006 general elections, Jornal Nacional was once again accused of airing anti-Lula biased news. Meanwhile, it lost great part of its viewership to Rede Record

Rede Record

Rede Record de Televisão is a Brazilian television network, founded in 1953 by Paulo Machado de Carvalho, also founder of Rádio Record. Currently it is owned by businessman Edir Macedo, founder and bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Since 2007 it is Brazil's second largest...

's Jornal da Record (Record Journal), which copied its style. On November 2005, host William Bonner

William Bonner (Brazilian newscaster)

William Bonemer Júnior, known professionally as William Bonner , is a Brazilian newscaster, publicist and journalist...

 caused controversy after he compared the average Jornal Nacional viewer with Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

, the ignorant main character of the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 animated series The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

.

Hosts

After almost 40 years of broadcast, several reporters hosted Jornal Nacional. Hilton Gomes and Cid Moreira were the first hosts. Later on, Sérgio Chapelin replaced Gomes and joined Moreira as the longest-running duo of Jornal Nacional hosts. In 1983, Chapelin was replaced by Celso Freitas. Chapelin returned in 1989, hosting again with Moreira until 1996. In that year, William Bonner

William Bonner (Brazilian newscaster)

William Bonemer Júnior, known professionally as William Bonner , is a Brazilian newscaster, publicist and journalist...

 and Lílian Wittefibe began serving as hosts. From 1998 on, Wittefibe was replaced by Bonner's wife, Fátima Bernardes. Bonner and Bernardes recently tied with Chapelin and Moreira as the longest-running duo of Jornal Nacional hosts.

Chronology of Jornal Nacional hosts:

• Cid Moreira (1969-1996)
• Hilton Gomes (1969-1971)
• Ronaldo Rosas (1971-1972)
• Sérgio Chapelin (1972-1979, 1989-1996)
• Celso Freitas (1983-1989)
• Lilian Witte Fibe (1996-1998)
• William Bonner (1996-)
• Fátima Bernardes (1998-)