Coverage of tragedies demands even more attention by the press. Any poorly chosen word gives a feeling of insensitivity
The most commented topic by readers who sought the ombudsman during the week was coverage of the tragedy that occurred on Friday, Jan. 12, at a subway station under construction on
the Pinheiros subway line in So Paulo. There were 68 messages through Friday.
They could be divided into four types: praise and story suggestions (19), corrections (8), criticism about alleged partiality by the newspaper (6) and criticism in which readers saw a tone that sounded sensationalistic or disrespectful in stories and photographs (34).
The story most frequently mentioned was published the day before yesterday, without a lot of play: “Luxury coffin of driver did not fit in tomb.” Written by Laura Capriglione, an experienced reporter and certainly one of the better stories in Folha, about the burial of truck driver Francisco Sabino Torres. It was praised by four readers (“cordial,” “touching”) and harshly criticized by 22.
The criticism could be summarized, without identifying readers because I did not have time to obtain authorization: “black humor,” “morbid,” “unfortunate,” “ironic,” “in very bad taste” and “debauched.”
The item was more a chronicle than a news story. I saw no debauchery. The reporter’s idea was to explore the strong image tied to the driver’s work, contact with the ground. The result, however, ended up distancing itself from the tragedy that victimized Francisco and the drama of the families, and this certainly shocked readers.
Capriglione explained that her intention was not to be ironic. “It is possible to learn a little about the lifestyle of an individual from the way he died, how he was honored and buried. The description of the burial of driver Francisco Sabino Torres had the idea to help readers understand, from the way he was mourned and buried, a little about his life. Mention of the fact that the luxury coffin did not fit in the tomb made it obvious that the cemetery in Francisco Morato (the city with the poorest social indicators in the state) doesn’t even contemplate the possibility of a burial with the type of coffin that, in wealthy areas of the city, is standard. This information, woven together with other facts, such as how Torres was a community leader, clearly did not have the intention of running down the driver’s reputation, but only gave clues to understand how he lived.”
Other stories and photos discomforted readers who saw sensationalism (photos of grieving relatives) or insensitivity (description of the rescue of retiree Abigail de Azevedo).
Folha’s coverage was focused, in this first week, on a reconstruction of the disaster, rescue work and questioning the procedures of contractors and the state and city governments.
Some readers, such as Alessandra de Assis, believe that the newspaper is being complacent toward So Paulo Gov. Jos Serra of the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). The newspaper’s caution is visible in pointing out those responsible, maybe for lack of solid information. We’ll see. Others complain that the press has not denounced this before. “The accident was the 11th in two years. And it happened right under the noses of the newsrooms at Abril Publishing, ‘O Estado de So Paulo,’ and Folha. You just had to look out the window. There was a blackout by the press” (Ren Cabal Orioni). The newspaper’s challenge now is to produce investigative coverage (about the causes and blame), criticism (of authorities involved, omissions by public officials and behavior of contractors) and, at the same time, sensitivity to the drama of the victims and the blemishes on the city.
EVALUATION
Opinions about op-ed
Folha in 2006 published 728 opinion pieces in the op-ed section, the newspaper’s prominent space to display contributions by intellectuals and experts. We have done, with the assistance of the section, annual evaluations of the opinion pieces that come out in the section to understand that, while the whole newspaper must be committed to the principle of pluralism, it is this space where diversity of analysis and viewpoints must be most evident. It is not the only way to evaluate the newspaper’s commitment, but it is an important thermometer.
As in the two previous years, political topics dominated. Of the 728 pieces published, 215 (about 30%) come under the umbrella of national politics, such as elections (74), crises (49) and the administration of President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva (28). I did not do a study of the contents of all the pieces, but in the second round of the presidential election there was a preoccupation with balance: 10 pieces pro-Lula or against Alckmin, and 10 against Lula or pro-Alckmin (referring to Lula’s opponent, former So Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin).
Afterward, in order, were pieces about the judiciary (57), international politics (47), economy (46), social issues (45), education (42), public safety (41), environment (40), gender or ethnic issues (29), health (27), religion (24) and culture (20).
The ranking of the main contributors is dominated by two critics of the Lula administration, historian Boris Fausto and Sen. Jorge Bornhausen of the conservative Liberal Front Party, and by a nationalist, Reserve Gen. Carlos de Meira Mattos. They have ranked among the most assiduous contributors to Folha for three years.
There are representatives of the financial sector (Roberto Luiz Troster, former chief economist at Febraban Bank) and industrial (Paulo Skaf, president of the business association Fiesp), but none in the labor union area. There is another government critic, historian Marco Antonio Villa, and a defender, Professor Candido Mendes.
Two frequent contributors have positions on the left, not necessarily favorable to the federal government — Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Souza Santos and philosopher Ruy Fausto — and others wrote about specific topics, such as Ives Gandra da Silva Martins and Fbio Konder Comparato (law and politics), Arnaldo Niskier (education), and Luiz Felipe Pond (religion). Rogrio Cezar de Cerqueira Leite, of Folha’s editorial board, writes mainly about energy.
Translation by John Wright
