There is no longer any doubt about the gravity of the impact that climate changes should cause to the planet in the coming decades
Folha committed a serious mistake in its So Paulo edition on Wednesday in reporting the results of studies commissioned by the Health Ministry about the effects of global warming on Brazil. The newspaper reported that the higher sea level “could displace” up to 42 million people along Brazil’s coastline by the end of the century.
There is no longer any doubt about the gravity of the impact that climate changes should cause to the planet in the coming decades. Folha’s headline on Feb. 3 said, based on a report released by the United Nations, “Scientists predict somber future for the Earth.” That is not necessarily the case, and the impact might be exaggerated.
One of the studies about Brazil predicts that 42 million inhabitants along the coast could be “affected” in some way in the event that the most pessimistic predictions come true. It’s one thing to be affected (as the headline said correctly), but it’s another to be “displaced” (as in the story).
The newspaper corrected the mistake the next day in the “Corrections” section, but I considered it insufficient to understand that there is growing interest by people in these forecasts and that alarmism could discredit the effort to raise consciousness by universities and non-government organizations.
The best approach would be for the newspaper to return to the topic with more information about various scenarios, with details about the phenomena that could occur and the impact on diverse regions in the country.
The press, which for a long time covered the environment irregularly using jargon, now has continuous coverage by journalists who are well prepared. In Folha, science is one of the few sections that gets more space than its competitors and an effort to cover it well, with a visible effort to cover environmental topics, such as the greenhouse effect and climate changes that have already occurred and destruction in regions such as the Amazon. Good coverage would dispense with the alarmism.
“It’s not the end of the world”
Paulo Artaxo is a professor in the Physics Institute at the University of So Paulo and a member of the IPCC (Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change at the United Nations). Here is his opinion about the press:
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“I find journalistic coverage of the IPCC report extremely alarmist and sensationalistic in general. The issue of global warming is not treated as the ‘end of the world’ nor partial extermination of humanity, as some magazines and newspapers speculate. The same environmental organizations do not take such an alarmist approach as the press did.
“The truth is that humanity has an excellent chance to implant what is called sustainable development and respect the global environment better. The issue deals with a very serious problem, but one that can be approached in a constructive way and not alarmist.
“Concerning Brazil, for example, we urgently need to reduce emissions being burned, and this would be positive for Brazilian society. The press also has not explored the favorable scenario that Brazil has in this area (with the exception of burning in the Amazon), with an energy model that is very clean and a bio-combustible program that is an example for the world.
The press always has a tendency (I find it infantile) to seek ‘villains’ in stories, when generally there really are none. There are neither innocents nor villains in the issue of global warming. The press should have explored the lack of preparation by the Brazilian government, where there is no structured plan involving the interested parties.”
Paid material
Last Sunday Folha reported that some members of Congress admitted using part of their public funding to buy favorable stories in regional news organizations. The newspaper cited two cases, the leader of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) delegation, Henrique Eduardo Alves of Rio Grande do Norte state, and Osvaldo Reis, of the same party, from Tocantins state.
Advisers to Osvaldo Reis told the newspaper that part of the funding is used to pay for stories in regional press in his district, in Tocantins and the south of Maranho state. This was in Folha and had not been denied through Friday: “According to them (the advisers), if there was no payment, there would not be any news about the congressman in the local press. Once paid, radio stations and newspapers … reproduce the entirety of information provided by the congressman’s staff.”
The most serious case is that of Congressman Henrique Eduardo Alves, for combing the activities of a parliamentarian with those of publisher of a newspaper, “Tribuna do Norte,” of Natal, which belongs to the National Newspaper Association (ANJ). In a conversation he had with Folha, he admitted paying (with public money) his newspaper to publish news about his political activities. “It is not a formal contract. I pay them and they give a receipt,” he explained.
That way, “Tribuna do Norte” highlighted his reelection to Congress, his election to leadership in the PMDB, the inaugural session of Congress in which he presided for being the oldest member, and published an interview about PMDB support for the administration of President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva.
It is an episode that shames politics and shames journalism. The practice to which they admitted is serious from the viewpoint of journalistic ethics as much as from a standpoint of political ethics – while in fact it gave little attention to such details.
Article 9 of the Code of Ethics for news organizations obliges newspapers to “differentiate, in a way identifiable to readers, between editorial material and advertising material.” Article 3 determines that they should “find out and publish the truth in events of public interest, not allowing any interests to prevail over them.”
It is not the first time that the press was caught red-handed selling advertising as if it were news. The practice is infamous because it tricks readers (in this case, with public funds). The result is that it further deteriorates the reputation of politicians and wears down the credibility of the press.
What is most impressionable is the lack of action by those who should repudiate the practice. In Congress, the president, Arlindo Chingalia, a member of Lula’s Workers Party (PT) from So Paulo, said that he will “study” the matter and recommended a debate. And the newspaper association, always so quick with public statements, intends to take a position only after a meeting of its directors set for March 14, almost three weeks after the event.
“Tribuna do Norte” spent the week silent. Through Friday, its readers ignored the story in Folha.
Translation by John Wright
