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Latest News
  • [ April 30, 2025 ] Sustainable Favela Network Launches Groundbreaking ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition on May 3, Kicking Off Museums Month [RELEASE] *Highlight
  • [ April 20, 2025 ] ‘No One Wants to Hear How Much We Miss Them’: 20 Years After the Baixada Massacre, Families of Victims Report Poor Mental Health and Demand Psychosocial Support from the State #UPPWatch
  • [ April 14, 2025 ] ‘I Was Up All Night, Like Every Summer’: Storm Deepens Climate Anxiety and Sparks Outrage Among Favela Residents Across Greater Rio de Janeiro, Say #VoicesFromSocialMedia #MediaWatch
  • [ April 7, 2025 ] ‘Temporary’ Housing in Santa Cruz Turns 60: Reflecting on Cesarão, the First Housing Complex, and Favela do Aço #EvictionsWatch
  • [ March 30, 2025 ] Meet Dona Nete: The Acari Artisan Turning Waste Into Fashion and Championing Zero Waste in the Favela *Highlight
HomeMedia Portrayal of Favelas

Media Portrayal of Favelas

#UPPWatch

Nearing the End of His Third Term, Rio de Janeiro’s Mayor Reignites Pre-Olympic Reputation of Forced Evictions in Maré’s Parque União, Amongst Daily Police Operations

By Carol Barbosa • Translation by Staff • September 13, 2024

Clique aqui para Português Imagine waking up on what seems like an ordinary morning, and suddenly being interrupted by the police saying: “Leave your home now, we’re tearing everything down!” Entire families with elders, children, […]

#CommunityMedia

2023 Retrospective of Best International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas (10th Edition)

By RioOnWatch Editorial • Translation by Staff • January 31, 2024

Clique aqui para Português This is the 10th edition of our media watchdog series Best and Worst International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas, part of RioOnWatch’s ongoing conversation on the media narrative and portrayal of favelas. A Significant Improvement in […]

#MediaWatch

The Criminal and the Vagrant: Brazilian Mass Media’s Bloody Discourse Defends White Privilege and Sentences Favelas [EDITORIAL]

By RioOnWatch Editorial • Translation by Angus Beazley • March 30, 2023

Clique aqui para Português Last year on June 22, veteran CNN Brasil commentator Boris Casoy gave his analysis of the pre-trial detention of Milton Ribeiro in Santos, São Paulo. Former education minister for then-president Jair […]

#HousingWatch

Favelas Have Doubled in 36 Years: What Does That Say About Brazil?

By RioOnWatch Editorial • December 22, 2021

Clique aqui para Português Recently, a number of articles have circulated in the Brazilian media reporting, with a mixture of wonder and reproach, the doubling in scale of the nation’s favelas over the past 36 […]

*Highlight

A Pyramidal Approach to Upgrading Rio’s Favelas, Part 3: Credit, Transparency, Budget Control

By Natalia Meléndez Fuentes • September 28, 2020

Clique aqui para Português This is the third article in a six-part series on the application of Meléndez’s Pyramid for Favela Upgrading to the city of Rio de Janeiro and its favelas. This pyramidal concept […]

Posts pagination

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RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
A Project of

About

In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

Contact & Support

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10 Years! Check Out Our Story:

Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • Greater Rio
  • Policies
    • Public Security
    • Housing
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Health
    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
    • Participation
    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
      • Anti-Racist Series
      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate

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