Folha’s travel section on Feb. 23 published three pages of service-oriented information that sampled breakfast at 10 hotels in So Paulo. The opening story had the headline “Breakfast at a nearby So Paulo hotel.”
The front page of the section also called attention to the report: “Good morning! Check an evaluation of breakfast offered to non-guests by luxury hotels, such as Emiliano and Unique, in So Paulo.”
Among the hotels visited were some of the best ones in the city, besides the two mentioned: Pestana, Sofitel, Fasano, Renaissance, Intercontinental, Hilton, Hyatt and a smaller place, Zilah. It’s a good idea, and the graphic layout on the pages was well-done, with a story and technical information about each hotel and plenty of photos.
The reports summarized the contents with a gastronomic critique: they carried addresses, Internet websites, prices, hours of operation, and a graphic display of the best to worst service tested.
On Feb. 28, Carnival Tuesday, the newspaper published a correction in the corrections section: “In the story that compared breakfasts at the Fasano, Unique, Pestana, Sofitel, Renaissance, Emiliano, Hilton and Hyatt (travel section, Feb. 23), we omitted that the service was sampled at the invitation of the establishments.”
The correction made four problems obvious: First, how is it possible that, after years and years of using Folha’s stylebook, the newspaper still left out the important information that it show the minimal transparency and show respect for readers?
The second problem: It is difficult to believe that the service was tested “at the invitation of the establishments.” It is more likely that the newspaper had the idea of performing the test and sought hotels requesting comps. It is hard to believe that 10 hotels simultaneously would take the initiative to send invitations of this type to the newspaper. The way it came out, it looked like the newspaper was sought by the hotels.
The third problem: This type of report requires anonymity for the reporter, otherwise he would be treated with a deference that is not always extended to the average customer.
The fourth, and most important, problem: Why does a newspaper such as Folha need to ask hotels for a favor of not charging for a simple breakfast, as expensive as it might be?
If that came about as a way to save money, it was inconceivable. I figured it out, based on the report. If it had paid for 10 breakfasts, the newspaper would have spent 460.70 reals (US $217.50), including a 10ervice charge and paying for parking. It’s not possible that the newspaper does not have a budget for an expense such as this.
I have already dealt with the policy of invitations in another column about the same travel section (“By invitation” on Sept. 18, 2005). The newspaper needs to rethink the policy if it really wants to offer an independent and qualified opinion about the services it is testing.
Folha’s stylebook has clear guidance on the topic, and, in this specific case, it was not followed.
When questioned, the newspaper admitted that it did not act correctly. I’ll reproduce the response I received from the managing editor’s office.
“Folha believes that it erred in seeking comps from the hotels to do its reports on comparing breakfasts. The stylebook asserts that “when testing services at a restaurant, for example, it is preferable that the reporter remain anonymous and pay the bill. In other words, the evaluation could be compromised by special service to which the reader does not have access. This is the practice adopted by reporters and critics in the So Paulo guide and arts and entertainment sections.
Is there a future?
Brazilian newspapers are celebrating, each in their own way, the 4.1irculation increase in 2005. The celebration is part of the advertising business. But it is obvious that the situation at newspapers, mainly the big ones, continues to be critical.
Folha, “O Estado de So Paulo,” and the Rio daily “O Globo,” the three biggest and most-prestigious newspapers, together sold 1.162 million copies per day on average in 2000. They ended 2005 selling 813,700 per day on average. That’s a loss of 348,500 copes per day, a 30 0rop in five years. It is as if one of them had stopped circulating.
Folha could feel relieved that it stopped falling. It sold 440,700 copies per day in 2000, falling to 399,700 (2001), 346,300 (2002), 314,900 (2003) and to 307,700 (2004). It ended 2005 with a daily average of 307,900 copies. It grew (if you could use that verb) by only 200 copies per day in comparison with 2004.
Still, it remains sales leader in the country, with a reasonable distance from its closest competitors. “O Globo” (fell from 322,500 copies per day in 2000 to 274,900 copies per day in 2005), and “O Estado” (fell from 399,000 to 230,900).
It is obvious that all of them must be worried, despite the optimistic words. What is happening to newspapers? Various factors are occurring at the same time, such as competition from new media, the uninterrupted growth of the Internet and free flow of information, the arrival of news blogs, changes in behavior, and a lack of investment due to the financial crisis.
There are contradictory signs. Circulation remains low, with a timid reaction, but advertising revenues are increasing, according to the newspapers themselves. And their credibility? The only survey that I know, by Ibope, done in May 2005, indicated that newspapers are highly regarded, while my limited daily experience suggests that readers are increasingly more critical and questioning. They are also irritated.
The future of newspapers is a topic present nowadays in the business areas of the news industry and in centers of research and thought at universities. I am not sure that journalists are paying the necessary attention.
To contribute to the discussion, I reproduce a passage from the final article of a long series produced by journalist Matas Molina in the financial daily “Valor Econmico” about the 17 main newspapers around the world. The story was published Feb. 17 with the headline “The future of newspapers.”
The main problems faced by the biggest and most-prestigious newspapers in the world are trends such as the drop in circulation and loss of classified ads, and the challenge to make money on the Internet. Here are two passages to stimulate debate:
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“What is the future of the big newspapers? That is, if they have one. Will they manage to adapt themselves and continue to perform their role to inform and reflect about society, establishing, as they have done up to now, the agenda of the debates and priorities and the objectives of their respective countries? Or, are they, without knowing it, dinosaurs in the history of communications, destined to disappear slowly, devoured by advances in technology, having as their final contribution to humanity the preservation of forests? … There is a consensus among observers in the world of communications that the future of newspapers depends in part on the quality of information that they manage to put at the reader’s disposal. It is also probable that there is, in a certain way, a return to the 19th Century model, when newspapers for the elites were more expensive, but they were read by the elite. One possible model is that these newspapers in the future will have circulation that is smaller than it is today, maybe fewer pages, but at a higher cost. The future of newspapers is uncertain. But it is not certain that they don’t have a future.”
Translated by John Wright
