During long holidays, the amount of time available for readers increases, and logically, the newspaper should increase the amount of material offered to them for reflection
Carnival is one of the keys to understanding Brazil, as explained by some of its great interpreters, such as Jorge Amado and Roberto DaMatta. Its own disfiguration, as pointed out on these pages last Sunday by Janio de Freitas, probably reflects that the country itself is suffering. Since just about anything goes at Carnival, this column escapes somewhat from its usual pattern and today comprises sparse comments made during the annual Carnival celebration.
It is natural and inevitable that newspapers wither on long weekends due to a lack of events generated by breaking news. But, if events decrease the amount of time available for readers, logically, the material offered to them to make calm reflection should increase proportionally.
For this reason, shrinking the arts and entertainment section on these occasions is incoherent. Its readers have four days off. They should have had available more material to help them fill their time, not less.
It is also wrong to not publish supplements such as Folhinha (for children), Vitrine (consumer information) and Folhateen. They don’t depend on the news of the day like the main newspaper sections. While it is understandable that editorial sections such as national news and business shrink during extended holidays, nothing explains why the same should occur with these supplements. To the contrary, they should increase to compensate readers for the loss in the rest of the newspaper.
Coverage of Carnival activities by itself was predicable and lazy. All of the common themes of every year were repeated: the same photos as always of women with their bodies nearly or totally painted, habitual gossip about celebrities in luxury viewing boxes and vulgar commentary about the samba “schools.” It is not surprising that only three readers sent messages to the ombudsman to comment about this material.
Thousands of irrelevancies dominated. Twice on the front page Saturday, and in the briefs summary on Monday, a photo and text reported that an obscure singer had marched in the parade one month after giving birth. And there was still enough vulgarity left over, such as labeling the photo caption of a nearly nude exuberant participant with the expression “abundant embarrassment.”
The reduction in the team of journalists and the relaxed climate that characterized this holiday were made to feel the absence that denoted the carelessness that is unacceptable for those who pay the same price for a product that should maintain the same standard of good quality every day.
With confusing pagination, in which odd-numbered pages were to the left of the even numbered, to the right of the reader, and careless texts, such as Tuesday’s headline, the newspaper stumbled several times, showing disrespect for its consumer.
Small and big tragedies in the city and the state continued to occur, including floods typical of the season. It did not rain for three consecutive days, which parade participants hoped for, but enough to cause a serious accident in Aclimao Park, many flooded streets and shamefully, more deaths.
Folha changed little of what has been its low standard of critical spirit in relation to public authorities to attenuate the effects of nature. Only yesterday did it elevate the level of demands for So Paulo City Hall for its inaction in these cases.
But still it has not sought responses about the increasing number of building collapses and landslides, nor did it demand data about what are the areas at greatest risk in So Paulo.
On Ash Wednesday, the ombudsman suffered the effects of the hangover of the repercussion of the Feb. 17 editorial which referred to Brazil’s former military dictatorship. The total number of complaints over those 10 days was 174.
On Tuesday, in a healthy demonstration of respect for the debate, it published an opinion piece which criticized the editorial. On Thursday, the two readers who had received a response to their messages that I considered inadequate had letters published without a response. I hope that Letters to the Editor does not become like a boxing ring.
Also on Wednesday, the front page of the national edition ran an excerpt from the column which criticized President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva for doing nothing to impede dismissals at airplane manufacturer Embraer, even though it was known since December.
If in fact, since December he knew about the dismissals, but criticism of the president also applies to the newspaper, which published nothing about the topic except a five-line item on Dec. 12 in which the president of the company called the possibility of dismissals “pure speculation.”
The presence of presidential chief of staff Dilma Rousseff at the Carnival celebrations in Recife, gave Folha a theme to return to a topic which was already worn out and whose repetition is journalistically unjustifiable: the plastic surgery she underwent.
Since the first news on Dec. 24 through the three photos Sunday on page A4 to show again its effects (after the mention of it on the first page Saturday), Dilma’s plastic surgery was a topic 32 times. In other words: the newspaper handled it one day on, the next day off.
Male politicians also have plastic surgery, dye their hair and whiskers and make capillary implants. I don’t remember the newspaper making these masculine artifices a recurring topic as it did with the president’s chief of staff.
To read
“Carnival, Heroes and Villains,” by Roberto DaMatta, Rocco Publishing, 1998 (starting at 33.25 reals, or US $13.60) – one of the most complete, lucid and original interpretations of Brazil starting with “national rituals,” among them, Carnival
To see
“Black Orpheus,” by Marcel Camus, 1959 (starting at 39.90 reals) and “Orpheus” by Carlos Diegues, 1999 (available to rent) – two renderings of the Greek myth of Orpheus adapted to Rio’s Carnival, one of them 50 years ago and the other 10, allow us to see the contrasts which occurred in Brazilian life during this period
What Folha did right…
Private colleges
Thursday’s headline escapes the habitual rut and deals in a critical way with a topic that generally the newspaper is not accustomed to covering in depth: the situation of private higher education in the country
…And where it did badly
U.S. budget
The historic proportion of Obama’s proposed budget, which could reverse 28 years of economic conservatism, did not receive compatible editorial treatment
Carnival editing
News about the American economy got sloppy treatment in the world news section and business sections to the confusion of readers
– Translation by John Wright
