It’s hard to find a front page in Folha like the one in last Sunday’s editions. It appears to have been designed with an explicit concern for a perfectly measured balance of critical news about the two main parties competing for the presidency: the governing Workers Party (PT) and the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB).
At the top of the page, one was the nail and the other was the horseshoe. The editorial “Abuse of power” condemned the behavior of the federal government for breaking bank secrecy laws involving household employee Francenildo Costa: “The shamelessness, the systematic use of lies, the dismissal of any kind of accusation, none of this is new in the Lula administration (referring to President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva). In recent days, however, it has reached unprecedented levels in terms of ethical degradation, institutional violence and affronts against the norms of democratic familiarity.”
To the side, the headline reproduces the results of an audit at the federal savings bank Nossa Caixa and an investigation by prosecutors: “Nossa Caixa benefits allies of (So Paulo Gov. Geraldo) Alckmin – publicity funds were directed to publications and programs of politicians supporting PSDB.” One of one.
On the lower part of the front page there was more about the PSDB and PT. Mnica Bergamo, in her column, “Lu Alckmin’s closet,” wrote that the first lady of So Paulo, Lu Alckmin, was given more than 400 articles of clothing by a fashion designer. (While there was no accusation, the revelation questioned the “ethical housecleaning” promised by Alckmin when he announced his campaign for president). And actor Lima Duarte gave an interview in which he called Lula an “imbecile” for “glamorizing ignorance.” Two of two.
During the week, the political news reinforced the idea that the two parties “are equal” – in terms of economic policy and ethical problems.
On Monday, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci resigned because of a break in bank secrecy laws concerning a household employee, and Roger Ferreira, the press adviser for the So Paulo governor, was revealed by the newspaper to be one of those responsible for diverting resources at Nossa Caixa to favor PSDB supporters in So Paulo. Headlines on Tuesday’s editions: “Palocci falls; Mantega replaces” and “Nossa Caixa case causes resignation of Alckmin adviser.”
On Thursday, disclosure of a report by the congressional investigation into the postal service overshadowed the voyage of the first Brazilian astronaut and reinforced the idea that the two biggest parties are becoming alike. “Skepticism about the future results of the postal service investigation will only increase when the opposition and the administration debate the meaning of the report … An investigation whose results are open to political negotiation can’t be taken seriously,” said the editorial “Different from what was expected” on Friday.
On that day, the newspaper still maintained good coverage of the Palocci matter and highlighted on the front page that the Legislative Assembly will investigate the donations to Lu Alckmin. But the case of Nossa Caixa has already left the newspaper. And the announcement about the departure of Jos Serra as mayor of So Paulo to run for president left out the most relevant information: it did not remind readers that Serra, at Folha’s insistence, had signed a letter guaranteeing that he would not quit to run for another office.
In compensation, the newspaper published two editorials with criticism of Alckmin: on Tuesday: “Alckmin owes explanations” about Nossa Caixa; and on Wednesday, “New wave of prison uprisings” to point out the “failure” of prison policy.
Readers
I understood Sunday’s front page and the development of the news in the following days as an effort by the newspaper to offer balanced electoral coverage of a campaign that is already marked by “exaggerated exasperation,” as former minister Palocci lamented before leaving the government.
Not all readers, however, read things the same way, and I received various criticisms of the newspaper. I will not cite readers’ names because I used small passages from the long messages and because I was unable to get the necessary authorization.
The messages that accused the newspaper of being anti-PT are the most frequent ones, and I already dealt with this in previous columns. This time I got the most complaints from those who questioned the stories that involved Geraldo Alckmin. One of them: “I believe that there is a tendency for the newspaper to look for bad news against a candidate, even if weak, imprecise or badly sourced, and highlight this news to counterbalance other news against another candidate, even if it is very strong, detailed and incontestable.”
A reader complained that Mnica Bergamo was “tiresome” and “pesky” for having interviewed Lu Alckmin’s former fashion designer: “This is gossipy stuff, but not wrongdoing.” The same day, another complained that the interview with Lima Duarte (who later apologized to Lula and the Globo TV network) was “prejudiced and violent.”
Another reader complained, and rightly so, that the letters selected for Letters to the Editor were mostly critical of the Lula administration.
Rare praise: “I see in these two pieces – the editorials ‘Palloci leaves, crisis stays’ and ‘Alckmin owes explanations’ – the position of a newspaper that wants to identify with sincerity, with coherence, being demanding with everyone, and independence from party affiliation. Corruption has no color, ideology or party.”
I will reproduce two general comments. The first: “We now have three ways to view the press: a press that uses lucid investigative journalism, one that uses investigative journalism that sees government conspiracy everywhere, and a “vulture” press that treats facts like “shoving a drunk down a hill,” half-truths and sensationalism.
The other: “Party, opposition and press enter into a game in which the previous limit is always surpassed. There are intercepted recordings, broken secrecy laws, invasion of privacy, and all this is illegal conduct … Whatever it takes to divert the risk to democracy since the first revelations seems to have no limit … And doesn’t the press have a constructive role? I believe that it is time to rethink the relationship of the press with the secrecy of sources, with the promiscuities of prosecutors, with obscure interests.
Turbulence
Every election is difficult to cover, but this time it will be worse, with the irritation between the two big parties and the heavy weight of the complaints. We will still see a long period of turbulence. The reader who called attention to the risk of forced equilibrium, in which the newspaper emphasizes “weak” news against a candidate to counterbalance an “incontestable” accusation against an adversary, is right. But I don’t believe that this is what happened this week.
Those who fear sensationalism, exaggerations and injustice are also right. For this reason, permanent vigilance by readers is necessary.
The obligation of the press is to combine critical investigative and questioning journalistic coverage, and furthermore, a strong negative burden, with the necessity to make space for a positive discussion about the nation’s future. That is a challenge because people seem to be as tired of accusations as they are of promises.
Translated by John Wright
