Is that us in the photo?
By Bernardo Ajzenberg
November 17, 2002
You certainly have already heard (or made) the following commentary: News organizations love to tell about the problems of others and sometimes do it with a great deal of bluster and ease but when they become the news themselves, things usually change quite a bit.
Two situations in recent days show that this complaint is not without merit. On Monday, Folha published a story titled Inflation now contaminates prices for leisure.
Based on surveys by the Institute for Economic Research Foundation (FIPE), the story showed that price increases began to appear in a significant way not only in basic items (food, for example), but also in services or products considered superfluous.
A graphic showed how much prices for 48 items went up in the past 12 months. Leading the list was jewelry (41.4%) and taxi rides (22.7%). After that was newspapers (18.6%). The two stories in the report showed the reasons cited for the behavior of prices in certain cases: movies (2.59%, therefore, less than inflation during the period as measured by FIPE, at 6.05%), restaurants (7.31%), cars (8.72%), and laundries (3.62%).
As for newspapers, there was no mention; only the rate (18.6%) was in the box. There clearly was no lack of access to an explanation. As the passage says, this would not be among the most obscure. In the case of Folha, for example, a third of the cost of the cost of the newspaper fits within what are described as industrial costs (paper, ink, metal plates and other materials), which, according to the explanation by the newspapers directors, are indexed to the dollar, experiencing a direct impact from the devaluation of the real.
Complete or not, that at least is an explanation. Readers, however, didnt even have access to it.
Confidence
The second case occurred on Nov. 8, when the results of a survey made in 47 countries by the Gallup and Environics institutes were reported about the degree of confidence that people around the world have in institutions.
The press/media group appears in 10th place, with 49% having much or some confidence and 47% with little or no confidence. It is behind the military, non-governmental organizations, religious institutions, police and government, among others.
This is bad news, without a doubt. Meanwhile, the story, edited at the bottom of a page under the headline Politicians are last in confidence ranking (politicians, here, are synonymous with Congress), simply ignored these data.
And this was even in Folhas national edition, in which the topic headed the page but the specific performance of the sector only appeared in numbers, in a table, with no commentary.
The same day, O Estado de So Paulo published the results of the survey about Brazil. Here, press and media appeared in fourth place (58% have much or some confidence), behind religious groups and churches, NGOs and the military.
It is a performance ranked higher than the media around the world, but not only for this reason is it capable of providing satisfaction.
Readers of Folhas national edition were even informed about some data concerning Brazil (the leading sectors, listed above and the ones at the end, such as government, police, Congress and International Monetary Fund), but there was nothing about the grade given to the media.
Whatever the motives for these omissions or holes, the fact is that they, obviously, dont help. In the next surveys, the credibility of the press with the people will go up at least a little bit.
Smoke and fire
Folha maintained sobriety in its coverage of the developments in the murder of the Richthofen couple during a week in which sensationalism and commotion prevailed in the media, especially on TV.
Similar sensitivity was not shown, however, in the way which the Pedrinho case, another one that took up a lot of space in the press, was treated.
You can add up the human ingredients: a couple that had their son taken away in maternity and after 16 years located him through a DNA exam; a youth who, two weeks after losing his (adoptive) father because of cancer, saw his identity and family history brutally questioned; a mother (now a widow) with a complicated future, suddenly facing a scenario in which she could lose her (adoptive) son and/or maybe go to prison.
Socially, the case brings to light questions about the practice of adoption in Brazil and security in the health care system as pertains to certain laws.
Among the main newspapers, Folha was the only one to not put on its front page on Saturday, Nov. 9, the confirmation that the young man was the biological son of the Braule Pinto couple. On Sunday, nothing came out. Only last Friday after staying on inside pages for four days without an impressive emphasis or special journalistic effort did the case get more space and wind up on the front page.
Its worth reflecting whether or not Folha, as much as it has given balanced treatment to the Richthofen case, let itself get seduced by the powerful media appeal, dedicating its efforts to the detriment of the Pedrinho case, which was also complicated, far-reaching and dramatic.
The newspaper, at least, took a while to see behind the smoke of a supposed happy ending, that in reality there was a lot of fire.
File it; reopen it
The Supreme Electoral Court on Wednesday put to rest the inquest concerning the role of Congressman Augusto Farias in the deaths of his brother, Paulo Csar (PC) Farias, and PCs girlfriend, Suzana Marcolino, in 1996. (PC Farias served two years in jail for his role as bagman for kickbacks in the government of former President Fernando Collor de Mello, who resigned in disgrace; shortly after his release from jail, Farias was killed in 1996 in suspicious circumstances).
The decision was made as the result of a judgment by Geraldo Brindeiro, the nations chief prosecutor, who said that he agrees with the first conclusion by the local police, who concluded that PC was killed by Marcolino, who then committed suicide.
Putting to rest the report benefitted Augusto Farias, who failed in his bid for reelection in October and, for this reason, lost his right to be judged in a privileged venue (the electoral court) as well as coroner, Fortunato Badan Palhares, who made the initial report on the deaths, and was later accused of filing a false report.
According to Folha, Brindeiro based his decision on technical clarifications by Palhares and a report which discarded findings of an increase in the coroners net worth incompatible with his income.
The news of the week, however, left relevant doubts up in the air. Why did Brindeiro only put out his report now, precisely during the interval between the elections and the end of Farias term of office? What were the technical clarifications by Palhares that made the chief prosecutor change his mind and find the coroner innocent of filing a false report? What exactly did the police report conclude about the increase in the coroners personal wealth?
The responses to these questions and others that could arise speak directly to the implications and consequences of the assertions of innocence by Farias and Palhares that the electoral court signified.
There is room to expound with total elucidation, particularly concerning the behavior of the coroner, whose image was seriously shaken in recent years.
The investigation into PCs death is costly for the press and especially for Folha, whose reports in March 1999 revealing a mistake about Marcolinos height in Palhares inquest, caused the police to resume their investigation.
Maybe near the end of the investigation, it now seems to reopen itself, throwing out new challenges for investigative journalism.
