12/10/2008

And the world (still?) has not ended

CARLOS EDUARDO LINS DA SILVA
ombudsman@uol.com.br

Despite the gravity of the crisis, letters from readers do not show great distress about the topic; the newspaper needs to bring the news closer to everyday citizens

Despite the indisputable gravity of the world economic situation --which only has precedent in the 1929 disaster and the resulting Great Depression-- correspondence to the ombudsman and Letters to the Editor do not reflect great worry about the topic by this newspaper's public.

The emotions of municipal elections and the Brazilian Soccer Championship prompted comment by many more people than the troubles provoked by the "Masters of the Universe" on Wall Street.

It could be that those who are apprehensive don't write to newspapers. Maybe the absence, up to now, of serious effects on the daily lives of Brazilians is delaying the impact. But it is also possible that the newspaper could be failing in its mission to bring the news closer to everyday citizens.

Alfred Marshall, the most influential economist at the turn of the 19th Century to the 20th, defines his science as "the study of humanity in the everyday business of life." The theory brings economics closer to journalism that in principle also takes care of the "everyday business of life."

Folha has dedicated appreciable effort to the coverage of the global crisis in these weeks. The facts have been registered in a correct and comprehensive way. Opinion pieces and interviews with experts have provided readers with deep analyses, relevant historic comparisons and original approaches.

But I believe that it has missed dealing with the problems starting with the perspective of those who are not versed in economic theory or the experience of business owners and executives.

It could be that print journalism one day will be a product consumed only by wealthy, educated people. But for now it is not, and it must meet the needs of all types of current readers.

It has lacked concrete questions about the real significance of the astronomical figures which inundate the pages every day to explain how this confusion will affect the daily lives of each one of us without abandoning the most sophisticated commentary, in which it is faring well.

This could be done through stories about people who are already suffering from the effects of this "crash with a wide-angle lens," as defined by an English journalist, or more details about the expectations of all of us here in Brazil could be experiencing in coming weeks or months.

The newspaper every day seems to indicate that the world is ending, but it continues more or less the same the next day.

Predicting how the world will be after this crisis or showing how it was after the one in 1929 could help to attract readers. If journalists manage to put themselves in the place of everyday people --not such a big effort of empathy-- maybe it would manage to do this.

If the Bellman says it three times, it is the truth

Lewis Carroll, the author of "Alice in Wonderland," wrote another masterpiece, unfortunately less-known in Brazil. It is the poem "The Hunting of the Snark," made for children like "Alice," but with many lessons for adults willing to think.

A group of hunters under the command of the erratic Bellman crosses the ocean in search of the mysterious Snark, who could be --and in the end is revealed to be-- in fact Boojum. The poem appears to be absurd, but it is full of significance.

The Bellman imposes some laws on the hunters. One of them is the following: "What I say three times is the truth." Simple and arbitrary like this: any assertion repeated three times by the Bellman is the truth.

News organizations which judge those who lead some mission --political, religious or cultural-- tend to behave like the Bellman: they pronounce convictions and believe that, by continuous repetition, they become the truth.

Newspapers, radio and TV programs, magazines, blogs, movies and advertisements follow this formula. Sometimes with relative success, if the measure of success is the number of people who believe these truths.

Consider the Islam of Barack Obama. A survey by the Pew Research Center in September showed that 13% of American voters believe that the Democratic Party nominee is Muslim.

Messages on the Internet, blogs and other media controlled by extreme conservatives have spread the allegation, without any basis in objective reality. And millions of people believe it.

Just like the millions who believe in the far-left theory that it was George Bush who ordered the Sept. 11 attacks.

In good journalism, there is no place for the Bellman. Journalism records facts, does not establish dogmas; inspires doubt, does not repeat slogans; promotes debate, does not proclaim certainty. In the end, Snark could be Boojum. And those who discover it could disappear.

To read

"Mildred Pierce," by James M. Cain, Companhia das Letras, 2008, translated by Celso Nogueira (starting at 32.56 reals, or US $15.30) - Novel which tells the story of a pretty woman who manages to overcome the economic adversity of her time and the social environment in the United States during the Great Depression

To see

"The Grapes of Wrath," by John Ford with Henry Fonda, 1940 (starting at 19.90 reals) - Movie classic, based on the classic book by John Steinbeck about the migration, forced by poverty, of a family from Oklahoma to California

"Of Mice and Men," by Gary Sinise with John Malkovich, 1992 (on sites which sell new and used movies, without set prices) - Another beautiful movie coming from Steinbeck's literature tells the moving story about two friends, one of them with mental problems, who wander the American West trying to survive in the 1930s

"Places in the Heart," by Robert Benton with Sally Field, 1984 (on sites which sell new and used movies, without set prices) - The widow of a sheriff in Texas in 1935 fights against misery and racism to support her family with the help of a black migrant who helps her plant cotton on her farm

What Folha did right...

Between classes - A good story on Tuesday about the decision by the São Paulo state government to count the breaks between classes as an extra-class activity for teachers in the public school system

Tele-marketing - The story on Wednesday about the creation of a list to block tele-marketing phone calls had great public interest

Cyber-bullying - A story in Folha Magazine was an important alert for parents about the dangers of cyber-aggression against youth

...And where it was wrong

Rafael Correa - A mistake in transcribing the interview with the president of Ecuador provoked a diplomatic incident between that country and Colombia; at least the newspaper corrected itself unequivocally the next day

Forgotten topics - Despite the natural concentration of big topics about the global crisis and elections, the newspaper can't just abandon important topics which were priorities a short while ago but are still not resolved, such as Satiagraha, the Alstom bribery scandal, death of a lawyer who denounced police death squads, and others

-Translation by John Wright