In recent years, the accession to government by new left-wing political forces in Latin America has led to the emergence of conflicts between the policies enunciated by the presidencies and important private media groups which, in many cases, have given sustained coverage adverse to these governments. Focusing on the case of Brazil, in this paper we approach the roots of this conflict, which have manifested themselves in several countries in the region and to a great extent concern the public agenda of Latin American countries.