16/11/2008

Health is more than just selfish hedonism

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

Without clear editorial orientation, the health page wastes an opportunity to promote debate about vital public health problems

It has been a little more than a month since Folha created a health page which has been received with joy by many readers. It has been known for a long time that this topic is one of those preferred by audiences in any news organization.

As a matter of survival, men and woman are concerned about their physical condition. With the consolidation of collective thinking formed by egocentric hedonism, the judgments that motivate this do no matter, making coverage of individual health a priority for coverage.

The page is a good one from a technical point of view. It calls attention to the quality of the design. Graphics have been beautiful. Photos are excellent and wide open. Stories are well crafted. Everything is great.

But since the first days, a type of editorial disorientation has caused the eyes of various readers to jump. The objectives that the new section seeks to reach don't seem clear.

Confusion was obvious between this section and Balance, the health supplement, as well as the daily science page. Many topics that appeared there could perfectly well have come out in one of the other sections.

It discomforted some readers, among them myself, that the health topics published have not been the central ones. In the 34 editions that I analyzed from Oct. 12 to Nov. 14, they appeared as the main story 11 times.

On the other 23 days, the main topics would not have caused discomfort if they had been published in the Balance section or in Folha's magazine: an allergy to corollaries, pain resulting from poor exercise practices, drying skin, and advantages of weight loss through surgery.

I have nothing against these. But there is no lack of space for these matters in the newspaper or in numerous other news media.

In those 11 editions, the highlight on the page was from surveys and scientific advances: new types of less-invasive examinations in the digestive system, new techniques for impregnation, babies created through in-vitro fertilization of eggs, and studies showing that obese people have a smaller chance to contract cancer.

Again, there is nothing to oppose: they are interesting and important.

The problem pointed out by Luiz Eduardo R. de Carvalho, among other readers, is that a great opportunity has been lost by the newspaper to promote the debate about vital problems of public health.

"We at least are aware that Folha will operate as a medicine show while hundreds of children die from dengue," he warned.

And with good reason. The more that the health page is dedicated to topics of public health, the more it will benefit the country. To be fair, it has done this with its approach, for example: the sale of medicines over the Internet, increase in the number of Caesarean births over the past 22 years, and high cholesterol in children.

But it is still little. As in the case of education, almost everyone in this country believes health is important. Meanwhile, most have a narrow and selfish view about what constitutes health.

The problems are innumerable and essential: quality of prime materials in medicines, the activities of Anvisa (the National Health Supervision Agency), the relationship between pharmaceutical laboratories and the state, the condition of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and Manguinhos (AIDS and hepatitis research), patent infringement, and the condition of the public health system to deal with epidemics. It is necessary that the newspaper instigate a collective discussion.

If education is important, the newspaper must prove it

On Thursday, a problem in public education in São Paulo merited the top of Folha's front page.

It was the fourth time this year. The other three times were when striking teachers blocked traffic. This time it was because of a serious violent incident at a model school, which only ended with intervention by police and injured students.

At the time of the walkout, I wrote a column about the topic (on July 6, titled, "To Teachers, Without Affection"). In it and in my daily critiques, I said that the newspaper did not demonstrate that education was among its editorial priorities.

Three months later, my impression stays the same. While Thursday's edition was not limited to the mere mention of events that occurred and analyzed more deeply the topic of violence in schools, the newsroom again acted in a reactive way.

In the debate, there is apparent national consensus about the urgency of dedicating a big effort to improving public education. There is no disagreement. But, in practice, very few act in this direction. Folha is not among them.

The journalistic "hooks" to urge a series of detailed stories about structural problems in public education are there: the strike three months earlier and the rebellion at Amadeu Amaral School this week.

A team that was capable of producing such notable top-quality journalism, with sections such as an in-depth profile of São Paulo, certainly could make an effort to investigate conditions in public education: teacher salaries, condition of equipment, chances for professional improvement, class size, suitability of hours worked, level of excellence of curriculum, Internet access, condition of libraries and laboratories, and opportunities for field trips. Readers and society would appreciate it. The newspaper would show itself to be relevant.

To read

"Health Guidelines," by Andi (News Agency for Children's Rights) 2003 (available at www.cortezeditora.com.br) - excellent survey about how Brazilian newspapers deal with children's health problems

"The Media as Consultant?" by Andi, 2002 (available at www.andi.org.br/-pdfs/midiacnsult.pdf) - an analysis of columns about health in newspapers and electronic media used by adolescents

To see

"Plague City," by David Wu, with Ron White, 2005 (on HBO on TV) - good movie shows how the public health system in Toronto showed itself to be vulnerable to dealing with the Sars epidemic in 2003

Topics most commented during the week

1. Expenses by public officials
2. Police strike
3. Satyagraha case

What Folha did right...

Balance
This week's edition was very good with a story about a region in Ecuador with a big incidence of centenarians and great services

Soccer photo
Monday's edition parted from the everyday in showing an air of desperation with a Palmeiras player on the ground, summarizing the team's condition

Calha Norte
Excellent report on Sunday about bio-diversity in that region

...And where it was wrong

Satyagraha
Coverage of new developments comes late and with the same insufficiencies shown in initial steps in the case

Government savings and loan
Sale of the public financial institution "Nossa Caixa" to Banco do Brasil will be finalized without the newspaper having helped to debate the process even minimally

-Translation by John Wright