Public Communication and Rights of Children and Adolescents:

the perception of managers and community in Horizonte (CE)

Abstract

This master thesis starts from the assumption that, in a democracy, communication is a right that promotes access to other rights and thus must be valued as a public policy. In this sense, we conducted an analysis on how the municipality of
Horizonte, located in the state of Ceará, Brazil, performs its practices of communication to promote access to the rights of children and adolescents. The municipality was chosen for its certification in all editions of UNICEF Seal of Approval. The methodology deployed was the interpretative approach, with two focus groups with adolescents and adults, and interviews with the mayor, three municipal secretaries and the communication agency. During the research we found that the municipality has advanced in the offer and the quality of communication for the rights of childhood and adolescence, but it needs to better understand the demands of the population, working in the scale and appropriateness of the media, and promoting the expansion of children and adolescents who participate in the production of communication.