27/04/2008
How to cover the story about Isabella
CARLOS EDUARDO LINS DA SILVA
ombudsman@uol.com.br
It is hoped that Folha won't fall into the same bad habits as the other media, which seem to be guided by immediate satisfaction of desires by the audience
Folha was so much on a par with the electronic media that some of its own columnists criticized its coverage of the story about Isabella Nardoni for putting on the most important part of the front page on April 19 a photo showing a group of people swarming in front of the police station where the crime is being investigated to "celebrate" the girl's birthday and insult and try to attack the suspects. (Isabella, 5, was strangled and thrown from her family's sixth-floor apartment in São Paulo; her father and stepmother have been arrested as suspects in her death).
Episodes such as the murder of this girl customarily bring out the worst in human nature by many human beings.
When mass media devote space to this photo they end up awarding the behavior of these creatures, who seem to be seeking their 15 minutes of fame or unload their repressed fury, whether cathartic or not.
It is obvious that the media need to cover the story about Isabella. No other topic arouses so much interest, discussion or commentary by the public. Ignoring it would contradict the essential principles of journalism and not help anyone.
But what is expected of Folha in this type of situation is that it does not fall into the same bad habits common in other media, which seem to be guided by immediate satisfaction of the apparent desires by their audience. Even if the overwhelming majority of readers demand morbid details, scabrous descriptions and Felliniesque scenes, the newspaper should refuse to provide them.
News is a business, obviously, and should be oriented toward the goal of making money for the companies involved. But that's not all. It also imposes social obligations, and, in my opinion, print newspapers have a duty to take more seriously more than any other competitor the mission to hold a dialogue with society to improve the citizenry.
Fortunately, what most Folha readers asked for in this case is not sensationalism. I read 67 messages sent to the newspaper about the topic. Some readers showed they have entered into an Orwellian climate that TV "reality shows" seem to have established as a social imperative in many countries, including Brazil.
But almost half of them expressed dissatisfaction with what one reader called a "circus" into which the tragedy has been transformed. Many demanded less: less play, fewer photos, and fewer cameras in the faces of the people in the news.
About one-quarter of the messages asked the newspaper to be more critical of the work of police, whose explanations are accepted with less credulity so it doesn't turn into a transmission line for official hypotheses.
Various readers recall the sadly famous example of the Base School in 1994, when the media helped to destroy the lives of six people, innocent of the accusations that were made by using without restrictions the conjectures of police who investigated the story and pre-judged the defendants based on supposed evidence.
An independent analysis would prove that, in general, news media, especially the printed press and Folha in particular, learned from the past. Coverage in this newspaper in the Isabella case is much more cautious than it was toward the Base School.
But there have been various blunders, such as the photo on the front page April 19, the lack of critical spirit, the excess of unpleasant minutiae, insinuations without foundation, and gratuitous inferences.
What is expected of Folha is that it shine a light so all of society can better understand why tragedies such as these events happen and why people react to them they way they do.
Credibility and influence
Readers expressed amazement at the assertion in the interview with the ombudsman on Sunday that the Brazilian press has not lost credibility as has happened in the United States, but has lost influence over the electorate. They saw a contradiction between maintaining credibility and losing influence.
Institutions can have a great deal of credibility but little ability to influence people, especially in some specific areas. The Catholic Church enjoys credibility among its faithful but influences them little in terms of contraception practices, legalization of stem-cell research, and euthanasia.
There are people trusted by friends and relatives but still don't follow them to form opinions about various things.
The American press is continuously losing trust sharply because newspapers and magazines have been caught in flagrant lies.
Credibility is something that can't be measured. In the United States it has been done systematically over many decades. The General Social Survey ascertained that the credibility of the press is now lower than that of Congress, the executive branch, the judiciary and companies.
In Brazil, the history of surveys is less consistent. But no survey in Brazil shows the same phenomenon similar to that in the United States.
The most recent one I know, in September 2007, done by the Association of Brazilian Magistrates, shows that the population believes the press much more than the government, Congress, political parties and politicians. But it seems to not have much influence when it comes time to vote.
PHRASES FROM READERS
The vast majority of the Brazilian press has been transformed into big business, where what matters most is to have the biggest repercussion possible in the news....
IÊDA MARIA A. OLIVEIRA
I am only a university student, however, I believe that our ideas, opinions and attitudes could make a difference, however small.....
CLAUDIA COSTA
TO READ
"Media and Violence," by Silvia Ramos and Anabela Paiva (Iuperj, 2007) - An analysis about trends in coverage of criminality in Brazil (available for download at the site www.comunidadesegura.org.)
TO SEE
"Ace in the Hole," by Billy Wilder, with Kirk Douglas - classic film about exploitation by the media in the misfortunes of others (on sale for US $24.99, in English at www.amazon.com and sites which sell used videos in Brazil)
"Mad City," by Costa Gavras, with Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta (1997) - good movie about how the media try to manipulate tragedies and take advantage of them (starting at 14.90 reals).
TOPICS MOST COMMENTED DURING THE WEEK
1. Isabella case
2. Strike by auditors
3. Statements by Gen. Augusto Heleno
WHAT THE NEWSPAPER DID RIGHT
AGILITY
While it was completely unexpected and occurred late Tuesday night, the São Paulo earthquake deserved the good coverage in Wednesday's edition
INCLUSION
An excellent package of stories about vehicles for people with physical disabilities in the Autos supplement on Sunday
AND WHERE IT WAS WRONG
ALARMISM
The headline on Thursday: it is doubtful that the accumulation of pesticides in fruits and vegetables constitutes such a serious threat to public health to merit this attention
DELAY
It took two days for the newspaper to agree about the importance of the election of Fernando Lugo as president of Paraguay. The topic wasn't even on the front page on Sunday, the day of the election
EXAGGERATION
A great deal of the newspaper's most important space on Monday told that authorities at the top of the federal government bought large quantities of pens, magazines, lighters and umbrellas
CONTRADICTION
A news story said that delay of the announcement about the pay increase for the military was due to statements by Gen. Heleno; a column on the op-ed page said it was not; readers don't know what is right
