The first days of the invasion of Iraq by the U.S.-British coalition have revealed a paradox: at the same time more information about the execution of a war is available than ever before, few times have there been so many contradictions, false leads or attempts to manipulate.
George W. Bush faces strong international opposition. Saddam Hussein is not a leader who is well regarded by the rest of the world, far from it. Thus, both are obligated to promote, besides the war strictly speaking, a cruel crash of information to win the hearts and minds inside and outside their countries. At the center, obviously, are the media and their challenge is to present data in the most objective and unbiased way possible.
Up to now, Folha has maintained coverage that recognizes the existence of this war of information because it decisively sent two journalists to Baghdad. Seeking balance, it also has published analyses, interviews and opinion columns by experts with differing viewpoints.
The few complaints that I have received about the topic of journalistic balance (or lack of it) refer to precise details. Some points, however, merit reflection.
The first was the placement at the top of Sundays newspaper in some editions the photograph of a child with a burned body identified as a victim of the coalition.
Various readers, even those against the war, thought this selection was grotesque, vulgar and sensationalistic. They believe that the newspaper went beyond informing them and had assaulted them with the image. I agree with them. The photograph could have been put on an inside page.
The mistake coming from the image gained more dimension afterward in the judgment of experts. It turned out that the child suffered the burns before the invasion and was used as a deceptive piece of propaganda by Baghdad.
Folha pointed out on Sunday that it took the precaution to attribute the information about the child to the Iraqi government, besides publishing on Monday the judgment of experts (with even less emphasis than necessary).
The newspaper also delayed exploiting the existence of its correspondents in Iraq.
On Wednesday, for example, competitors, even without people in Baghdad, provided material that was more weighty and detailed (based on foreign newspapers) about the events in the capital as well as pasteurized information from news agencies.
Only on Friday did the exclusive material in Baghdad Diary take prime space on page 2 of the section about the war.
On two occasions Folha did not know, in my opinion, how to adequately highlight the essence of what it published in a dispersed way.
One occasion was on Thursday, when it became clear that the coalition, in a decisive attack in the conflict, decided to postpone the assault on Baghdad given Iraqi resistance. Folhas headline that day was about the bombing that killed 15 civilians in the capital clearly a relevant event but less definitive.
On Friday, when it became known that the total would be more than 120,000 U.S. soldiers in the conflict, the headline was Baghdad suffers another tough attack something that will be repeated over and over.
The war should be long. Therefore, this column will used to discuss various other questions that have been raised and will be raised again.
Brazilian view
I sent reporter Srgio Dvila, on special assignment in Baghdad, questions about his work. The following answers illustrate the conditions of this coverage and a little bit about his sources:
Q What is the best lesson from journalistic research you have learned in these days?
Srgio Dvila You cant accept the limitations imposed by a situation (in this case, the Iraqi governments attempts to control) but you try to make due despite these limitations.
Q How do you work in relation to other correspondents?
Srgio Dvila Journalists are not the worlds most united and gregarious professionals, not even in war. I believe that it is the nature of the profession, with the priority to seek exclusive information (that cant be shared). But there is a certain sense of solidarity, at least in terms of safety issues.
Q What is the priority of your coverage when there is already so much coverage by news agencies and TV?
Srgio Dvila To give a Brazilian view, which is exclusive, to a topic that has already been covered exhaustively.
Q How is pressure in the war of information expressed? What do you do to keep from being manipulated?
Srgio Dvila Both sides contradict the information from the other side all the time, often with obscure arguments. The way I have found is to listen to what the Iraqi government says, match it with what critics say (United States and United Kingdom, as well as courageous Iraqis) and try to find a minimum of truth in all of it.
Q You reported about a hospitalized injured person who left in a car shortly after a press conference, along with a photograph by Juca Varella that an official building was hit by a missile, a fact omitted by the Iraqi government. How did you get this?
Srgio Dvila We were taken to the hospital by the government, which monitored the visit. When it was time to leave, the two of us were late and we missed our bus. That way, we ended up being able to move around freely until someone realized we were missing. In the second case, we counted on the help of our driver, one of the courageous Iraqis I mentioned earlier. We pay him well, but he is also unafraid to depart from the official version.
Conflict of interest
An e-mail by a reader on Monday warned the ombudsman about a serious matter. The front page of the arts and entertainment section on March 9 carried a story about pianist Nelson Freire, who was playing that night at the Municipal Theater along with the Municipal Symphonic Orchestra.
Notes about the music contained in the program distributed to the audience at the same night were written by the same author as the article in Folha. This coincidence harms a basic principle of journalism: avoid conflicts of interest.
Can a journalist as honorable as that person may be, as impeccable as his manner or as clear as his conscience or independence he may exhibit be seen by readers as impartial in writing a story about an event in which he participated, even indirectly, in a remunerative way? Obviously not. Doesnt such a practice cast doubts on the credibility of the newspaper, generating mistrust about its independence? It sure does.
I will reproduce the following passages of remarks that Irineu Franco Perpetuo, author of the story and the music notes, made about the event:
My procedure is standard practice, not only by the press specializing in erudite music, but in cultural journalism in general … Never has it been asked of me explicitly by Folha that I not rewrite news articles for concert programs, nor was it made a precondition for my work …
Im a free-lance journalist with no employment ties. I have worked for the Municipal Theater with the same obligations of quality and independence that I have performed in working for Folha since 1994; this way, I energetically reject any accusation of being coopted … I believe that in these cases, as in others, each individuals personal manner and an attitude for the truth determines what is or what is not independence.
The arts and entertainment editor, Nelson de S, asserts the following: The arts and entertainment section was not informed by free-lancer Irineu Franco Perpetuo, who has written for the newspaper for nearly 10 years, that he would do a story on contract and for pay for the orchestra. To the contrary, I would not have allowed such duplicity. The practice is ethically unacceptable.
If such duplicity condemned by Folhas stylebook constitutes a practice in cultural journalism, such as Perpetuo asserts, the situation is even more serious. But that is another discussion.
