03/02/2008

Universal cases

By Mário Magalhães
ombudsman@uol.com.br

In the municipality of Jaguarão in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul near the Uruguay border, a pastor at the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God says he was approached like this: "That's it! You are so cheap at giving money to this church!! These are the people in your church?! All of them rogues!! How do you stay with this church? Don't you read newspapers? Evangelicals are all really stupid."

Far away, in Catolé do Rocha, in the northeastern state of Paraíba, one of the faithful said to have heard: "That's it! You are so cheap at giving money to this church!! These are the people in your church? All of them rogues!! How do you stay with this church? Don't you read newspapers? Evangelicals are all really stupid."

In Tefé, Amazonas state, more than a day's journey by boat from Manaus, another pastor said he was the target of an "unjustified attack": "That's it! You are so easily fooled into giving money to this church!! These are the people in your church? All of them rogues!! Evangelicals are all really stupid."

I did not standardize the versions. The combination of quotations and question marks and exclamation marks are in the court cases by pastors and members of the Universal Church against Folha and its reporter Elvira Lobato.

In 43 cases counted through the day before yesterday, they are demanding compensation for damages and seeking a judgment. They said they were offended by a story in December, in which they were not quoted, "Universal reaches 30 years old with business empire."

The petitions have many identical paragraphs. The plaintiffs say they were "victims of religious discrimination due to tendentious content in the story published by the accused." From their testimony, the same offensive words were repeated in the rest of the country.

From Barra de São Francisco, Espirito Santo state and Aparecida do Taboado, Mato Grosso do Sul state to Parnaíba, Piauí state and Xapuri, Acre state. From Paulo Afonso, Bahia state and Pouso Alegre, Minas Gerais state to Araguaína, Tocanins state and Bataguassu, Mato Grosso do Sul (there are some who spell it Bataguaçu).

The pronouns, differing only by regional dialects, and the request for "benefits of free judicial assistance," coincide.

Other similarities: the cases were taken to Special Civil Court. There, the legal process is swift. The reporter, who needs to appear personally, was intimidated by four subpoenas on one day in different places.

I asked the church: "Was there a movement coordinated by the Universal Church in the cases against Folha and the journalist?" I did not get a response.

The National Newspaper Association described it as "intimidation of the free exercise of journalism with the intention made by the initiative."

The first decision was by Justice Alessandro Leite Pereira in Bataguassu. He criticized Carlos Alberto Lima for litigation in bad faith: "The posture adopted by the plaintiff in the description of the case... shows the unquestionable existence of bad faith, so he debases the contents of the story to insert himself into it individually, undeniably to seek compensation."

He added: "Judicial authority is being used by the plaintiff for spurious goals to collect damages, with diverse demands in mind, as the same case is being sought in various corners of the country, in locations where access is difficult. Clearly the intention of the plaintiff, as are other plaintiffs in the cases mentioned, is to impede the case of the defendants..."

There are two reprehensible reactions to cases of this nature: to bias the news organization against the plaintiffs and the institution to which they belong or, more commonly, to intimidate them into giving up critical journalism. The managing editor at Folha said it will have no influence on coverage.

I read and reread the story, laid out on three pages. It was serious and was an example of how journalism should behave toward power, among them business and religious groups, without exception.

Not surprisingly, the 35-year-old journalist, Elvira Lobato, one of the most brilliant reporters in the country, has written over the past decade and a half some of the most admirable and courageous journalist work about the communications sector.

Tearing the costume

Cropping photographs is a journalistic resource that, applied with parsimony, can render good esthetic results. Previously, the images were treasured. Now, digital editing systems can manipulate them in a sophisticated way.

To highlight one or more elements in a scene, journalism should, notwithstanding, avoid denaturing the original image. A bad example of this technique was published last Sunday. The queen of the Vai-Vai samba group in the Carnival parade, Ivi Mesquita, was photographed wearing a costume of colorful feathers.

Readers did not see any feathers. They were removed so the dancer could fit into a vertical format. The edited photo prevented readers from seeing the costume designed by a stylist. Worse, it gave the impression that she was another, less impressive and maybe less beautiful.

Folha exaggerated in editing photos. To the right, besides showing Ivi Mesquita before and after, there are two other cases from the week: Miss Brazil, Natáli Guimarães, and TV host Daniella Cicarelli.

Translation by John Wright