INSTITUTIONAL JOURNALISM AND GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING: CONVERGENCES AND CHALLENGES FOR TRANSPARENCY AND CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN MUNICIPAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

This article addresses the convergence between institutional journalism and government advertising within the communication offices of municipal public administrations, analyzing its impact on transparency and citizen participation in the Brazilian context following the 1988 Constitution. The core issue concerns the balance between the informative commitment of institutional journalism and the persuasive function of government advertising, without compromising the credibility of the information provided. The objective is to investigate how this balance can expand access to information and strengthen social oversight at the municipal level, by identifying points of convergence, examining the role of communication as a tool for transparency, mapping ethical and institutional challenges, and proposing citizen-centered guidelines. This is a qualitative, exploratory, and theoretical-bibliographic study, involving a review of relevant literature and an analysis of the Brazilian legal framework—including the 1988 Federal Constitution and transparency-related legislation—drawing on the work of authors such as Brandão, Zémor, Haswani, Kunsch, Duarte, Bucci, Cezar, Maduro, Marques, and Miola. The findings indicate that such convergence can be legitimate when oriented toward the public interest, but becomes problematic when driven by advertising or electoral agendas. The study concludes that government communication, when grounded in ethical principles and legal frameworks, strengthens transparency, citizen participation, and local democracy.