19/08/2007

Obstacles on the beat, curse of the blinders

By Mário Magalhães
ombudsman@uol.com.br

Reporter Kleber Tomaz and photographer Antônio Gaudério left early for a press conference at the Department of Investigation Into Organized Crime scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. They arrived early.

São Paulo police were to announce the details of an operation. While they waited in an auditorium the Folha journalists heard cries from the other side of a wood room divider where a police station is located.

Tomaz ran a tape recorder. He heard a voice taken to be that of a police officer: "Not here. You will say that we were not beaten." The sound of beating survived. A man who appeared to be a prisoner moaned, "Ay, ay."

The alleged police officer said: "Not here, you shit. You will say that you were not beaten... In the time of the dictatorship, faces were beaten (sound of laughter)." And he said ironically about not so long ago: "And criminals. 'No sir, for the love of God.'"

The topic of the press conference appeared at the bottom of a good report which, unfortunately, did not even get the top of the page. A photograph, "stolen" by a loophole, did not give a good image. The police defended themselves, saying it was a "joke" by police. After the "scoop," however, the Secretary of Public Safety ordered an investigation into the seeming act of torture.

The journalists did something right: they had a beat, but they changed direction when the news became conspicuous.

It is not always that way: an obstacle in journalism is the bureaucratic submission to the original assignment like a fanatic following a guidebook. It is necessary to pay attention with the eyes - and ears - attentive to news, rejecting the blinders that limit vision.

According to Folha's stylebook, a "beat" is "the first itinerary for the production of journalistic stories and iconographic material." The best story is not one derived from a regular beat, but one which surprisingly goes beyond it.

In the auditorium was a third reporter, one from another news organization, whose identity Folha omitted. He heard the screams, but only reported the official news. He stayed with the original assignment and kept quiet about the violence.

Securities Commission mistaken, so is press

This is about capricious authority in the form of a rough draft of a resolution by the Securities Commission (CVM) which, as Folha described, "proposed norms of conduct for news organizations in the publication of analysis of investments which contain recommendations about the use of indicators for investment assets."

The commission, autonomous from the Finance Ministry, wants "the sources of information utilized be trustworthy." The CVM did not clarify who determines credibility. In other words: if a reporter believes that a director of the commission is not a source worthy of credit, he can be punished. It is not the CVM's role to censor the press.

The proposal has merit: it flings open the absurd absence of self-regulation about conflicts of interest: a journalist who checks, edits or comments about financial markets should not invest in the stock market.

The stylebook condemns the activity of "one's own interest, writing about a company or business in which one has a relationship, even indirect." It defends more specific prohibitions. When consulted, Folha management told me they will discuss the topic.

Coverage should reinforce balance and avoid "economese"

The day before yesterday, a story in the business section about the turbulence in the stock exchange carried opinions by Roberto Padovani, chief economist at West LB Bank.

On the next page, he was consulted again, about the "contagion of capital flow." In another one, he commented about the fall in prices of commodities (in the dictionary "prime materials," especially "of great participation of international commerce, such as coffee, etc.")

The repetition proves less about a limited range of sources than it does about a predilection for people at financial institutions, to the detriment of the productive and "real"economy. There could be more balance.

Another suggestion: avoid or explain "economese." In the crisis, new leaders try to become informed. Nobody is obligated to know what "expiration of contracts" on the São Paulo Stock Exchange means, or even "commodities."

Folha against "Cansei"

Folha readers have the privilege of seeing Angeli and José Simão. To me, they are among the newspaper's most talented people. On Friday, they felt inspired to throw darts at the Civic Movement for the Rights of Brazilians, known as "Cansei," on the day the movement protested in the Sé central plaza. Cartoons and columns express opinions. It is good that the newspaper expresses plurality.

On previous days, however, the news about the organization championed by the São Paulo branch of the Brazilian Lawyers Association (OAB), business organizations, and personalities linked to the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) seemed biased and anti-"Cansei."

On Wednesday, the newspaper carried an interview with actress Cristiane Torloni. On Thursday, with TV personality Ana Maria Braga. The choice of celebrities gave the impression that there were no "ordinary people" with the genuine motivation to join a group they consider - and is - legitimate. News coverage carried a tone, even though subtle, against "Cansei."

Is it Letters to the Editor or Letters from Flacks?

Journalist Adilson Laranjeira is an excellent press secretary to São Paulo Congressman Paulo Maluf of the conservative Progressive Party. He fulfills the job with efficiency and determination. According to a survey of Letters to the Editor, Folha published 12 of his letters in 2005, 11 in 2006 and eight this year. The penultimate was the Saturday before last and the most recent one was on Tuesday.

The letter writer is correct to write. Folha, part of a journalistic organization where Laranjeira once worked, is the one which is wrong. Expressions by politicians and their spokespersons should come out in quotations in the section in which information is contested.

Readers protest against the "invasion." They see "Letters from Flacks" neglecting "anonymous" people to make room for habitual figures (and spokespersons) from other pages. I join that chorus.

Translation by John Wright