Great stories are not always edifying nor do they wait for a happy ending; talking about one or more of them, they seduce more than cold, impersonal words
During the week in which Santa Claus redoubles his efforts to fill orders and not frustrate dreams, I evoke a flesh and blood hero shown last month: Riquelme, 5, saved an infant neighbor one year, 10 months old in a fire in Santa Catarina state. Dressed in a Spider-Man costume, the boy was playing when smoke appeared in the wooden house next door and, to the mother’s horror, the flames stretched out so much that she had already given up on her daughter.
Spider-Man told the woman to not give up. Crawling, he overcame the flames and pulled the crib, without any help, of the child smaller than he is. Asked by fire fighters if he was afraid, the boy with the name of an Argentine soccer star reacted with the pride of brave men: obviously, he did not shake, Spider-Man fears nothing.
Abandoned by his mother, raised by grandparents and with a distant father, Riquelme showed that super heroes exist. And that, while there are people like him, there is no lack of good stories for journalism to tell. But Folha did badly in telling about the feat. It gathered information by telephone, did not talk to Riquelme or his family, nor did it get near Palmeira, the city where the boy lives. To report the feat, it treated this inventive story as if it were an ordinary day on the stock exchange. Sadly, asphyxiating fascinating stories has been more common in the newspaper than running them.
This year, a judge removed from a courtroom in Paran a rural worker for wearing sandals. The poor man had no shoes. Folha did a story about the cowardice but did not publish it. Asked about it by a reader, the newsroom alleged a “lack of space.”
Space is less a question of size than sensitivity, the lack of it meant that accounts by victims of an accident in 1987 involving cesium were told with the enchantment of a philatelic report. The newspaper did not make an effort to travel to talk to students at a public school in the interior who are associated with a teacher on a calf to assign students to read Folha – only got the words, from So Paulo, of the teacher.
Good journalistic stories are not necessarily edifying nor do they wait for a happy ending. Speaking of one or a few, they seduce more than impersonal cold prose.
Folha should be inspired by Christmas, in the spirit of its captivating narratives, to search for great stories and tell them with gusto.
To all, a Merry Christmas.
Folha, Serra, trends and methods
(I am reproducing an item I wrote in my Tuesday critique).
Last week, I lamented that Folha had not sought So Paulo Gov. Jos Serra to speak about the expulsion of dwellers from the Real Parque slum. The land belongs to a company linked to the state; police, who executed a judicial order, are under the authority of the governor and authorities he appoints, whether or not directly.
Yesterday, I lamented that the newspaper had not sought Serra to speak about the death of a protester … by forces controlled by the state.
Today, I lament that the newspaper did not seek Serra to speak about the death by torture – according to a study by the Legal Medical Institute (IML) – of an adolescent … held by the police.
Three examples do not guarantee that only one method was used. They indicate, however, a trend.
The newspaper, whose obligation is to oversee power, all powers, should reflect on this.
The world seen through shaded lenses
There was a reporter who always responded the same way when the organization he worked for had him report the latest about the soccer team he covered.
When someone asked, “How are things?” came back the exclamation “Everything is great!” even though the team was going through a horrible crisis. He became known as “The everything is great reporter.”
This type of boosterism in journalism, which is confused with fans in the stadium or the court jester, distorts reality as much as the school of complainers, accustomed to seeing the world through shaded lenses, even when the sun is shining.
Occasionally, Folha gets lost in this shade.
On Sunday, what was a reasonable assumption in an opinion piece appeared as an obsession in the news about the decision involving the Club World Cup.
Headline: “Game of four-time champs looks to be gloomy.” “Fine line,” below: “While Milan has only one attacker and Boca is full of players, final in Japan shows signs of being all sewn up.”
The arrogance of guessing was summed up the flippancy of insistence in the opening: “The end of the Club World Cup in Yokohama … should not be an attractive game.”
It was a great game, with Milan winning 4 to 2.
It could be worse, as a game seen earlier, when Barcelona defeated the Glasgow Rangers 2 to 0 in November. The sports section headlined it “Ronaldinho gives chance to young record holder.” The story suggested the same rhythm.
The Madrid daily “El Pas” reported: “Ronaldinho leads the triumph by blue and dark red (team colors).” “El Peridico,” the best newspaper in Catalonia, praised the star. The specialized newspaper “Sport” highlighted the “Brazilian player’s comeback.”
Not only in soccer. In the Rio Games, instead of waiting for the end of the gymnastic competition, Folha forecast: “From strength, Brazil becomes apprentice in Pan-American Games.” It later was overflowing with medals unprecedented for the series.
Critical journalism has a commitment to the facts. If the facts are not tragic, there is no way to report tragedies.
Translation by John Wright
