23/11/2008

"They will dye their hair blue"

By Carlos Eduardo Lins da Silva
November 23, 2008

There is no doubt that the newspaper's future will rely on the reality of the Internet; how is Folha doing in this matter? Very badly, according to readers

One of the best newspapers in the United States, "The Christian Science Monitor," announced three weeks ago that it will cease publication of its daily newspaper, which turns 100 years old this month, starting in April 2009.

Instead, the "Monitor" will send subscribers a PDF version every day by Internet and will stay on the Web with a bold design, new content and regular updates.

For those who miss the paper version, it will be printed as a weekly magazine and distributed on Sundays, with interpretive stories, analyses, opinions and good photos, everything that it offers now.

The announcement was one of those that had the most impact among fans of daily print journalism around the world. The "Monitor" has been synonymous with quality for a long time. Its circulation fell from a peak of 220,000 copies per day in the 1970s to the current 50,000, and the trend continued falling.

While its directors said they expect that all daily newspapers will do this in the next five years, the situation at the "Monitor" was peculiar and does not necessarily indicate a trend.

Unlike the big newspapers, its revenues are derived almost entirely from the sale of subscriptions, not advertising. An end to printing the paper reduces costs a great deal and practically does not affect revenues.

Bigger-circulation newspapers, such as "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal" depend on ads, and these sell at a much higher rate on paper than on the Internet.

Besides, while all over the world the audience for newspapers on screens is increasing, their advertising income has fallen short of expectations, and they are far from being the economic success that was predicted a few years ago.

In any event, there is no doubt that the future of this activity is moving in reality to the Internet. A survey released in May by the Zogby institute among 704 top-ranking executives in the industry revealed that 86% of them believe print media have to better integrate their electronic version, and two-thirds believe that in 10 years the most common consumption of journalism will be online.

"The editors know the solution: innovate, integrate. Or perish," summarized the director of the institute, John Zogby.

Facing this, how is Folha doing in this area? Very badly, according to readers who write periodically to the ombudsman. Jaime C. Silveira said that he canceled his subscription to UOL (which carries Folha's online version) which he used only to read Folha, tired of waiting for an edition comfortable to read on the screen, as are numerous newspapers in Brazil and other countries.

Gustavo Camargo, after seeing electronic versions of this newspaper's competitors, asked: "Advise people that this is getting old, behind the times. In a short while, they will have to dye their hair blue."

Ana Busch, responsible for Folha*'s electronic version and for the Folha Online* newspaper in real time, said that the former must be reformulated: "We have a project to implant a version with faithful reproduction of the newspaper's pages, which will be practical, easy to navigate and mainly light, in other words, which can be reached using any browser or connection speed. That is the big challenge, but we are working to overcome it soon." She did not say when. We usually have to wait for things like this.

In the end, what does Soninha want?

Soninha Francine, the city council member and Folha columnist, contacted the ombudsman to complain about the headline of the story published by this newspaper on Oct. 30: "Soninha asserts that she would 'love to' participate in Kassab's team." (This refers to newly reelected São Paulo Mayor Gilberto Kassab).

The phrase began to circulate as a political argument against her, asserting that she said the opposite. "I said that I would love to be able to, but this does not mean that I would accept participation on 'Kassab's team' (an expression that I never used) because I could not be sure what this really means in fact."

I sent the complaint to the newsroom, which responded: "The headline is correct, and the story reproduced textually the councilwoman's statement, as recorded."

The councilwoman shot back: "No passage of the interview - recorded, great! - carries the phrase which asserts that I would love to be part of Kassab's team. Executive power is not synonymous with Kassab's team."

The newsroom came back to support the headline as "correct and honest." The complainant asked "the ombudsman as referee," who sought access to the recording or transcript, which was denied under the argument that "there is room to criticize the newspaper, but its suggestions and observations do not have a deliberative nature."

I never dreamed that they had. But to put out fair and conscientious opinion, all the elements are needed. With what is available now, I believe that Folha, in the headline in question, distorted the statements from the interview.

TO READ

"The Internet," by Maria Ercília e Antonio Graeff, Publifolha, 2008 (17.90 reals, or US $7.70) - pioneers of the Web in Brazil tell the story of its expansion in this country

"The Network," by Juan Luis Cebrian, translated by Laura Machado Coelho, Summus Publishing, 1999 (starting at 24.08 reals) - founder of the Spanish daily "El País" discusses the Internet, in which his newspaper has decided to invest heavily

TO SEE

"You've Got Mail," by Nora Ephron, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, 1998 (starting at 12.80 reals) - innocent, cute romantic comedy about the early days of the Internet, when they fell in love by email, which was then a novelty.

"Shattered Glass," by Billy Ray, with Hayden Christensen, 2003 (starting at 21.90 reals) - story based on true facts about a brilliant reporter who invented stories based on what he read on the Internet, and which were unmasked because of it

WHAT FOLHA DID RIGHT...

South America
The newspaper gives priority to the continent in its international news and sets itself apart from other news organizations

... AND WHERE IT WAS WRONG

Nossa Caixa
The government-owned savings and loan is sold without an auction; Folha avoided promoting a debate about the topic for six months

São Paulo public employees
Wednesday's headline on the projected law which has been in the works for a month omits that it had 146 amendments

Letters to the Editor
Since complaining about the page in this column, this week had the fewest letters to the editor; people in the news got 40% of the space

TOPICS MOST COMMENTED DURING THE WEEK

1. Public education
2. Health topics
3. Satyagraha case

MEMORY

Questions that await a response

1. What prices have decreased with the end of the financial transaction tax?
2. How is the Alstom bribery case going?
3. How is the Santa Tereza case (about trafficking of prostitutes) going?

- Translation by John Wright