11/01/2009

War of opinions about the war

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

As long as the newspaper guarantees that various sides have their positions published in a balanced way, it is fulfilling its role

Coverage that Folha is doing on the confrontation between Israel and Hamas motivated 136 readers to contact the ombudsman to comment about it. It is the largest number of messages received about a topic in four months.

The majority were reacting to opinion pieces: 24 about the one by João Pereira Coutinho, 11 to the column by Sérgio Malbergier on Folha Online (both favorable to Israel) and 16 about Clóvis Rossi (critical of Israel).

There is not a lot that the ombudsman can do when readers contact him to complain about opinions with which they disagree. The ombudsman historically does not deal with opinions of columnists or those of the newspaper itself.

Because opinion is an issue similar to religion, it is very difficult to prove that one is "right" and another one is "wrong." It is something that enters the area of convictions and personal values.

The ombudsman must stick to the technical aspects of journalism, the factual, the provable, the verifiable, to avoid falling into this swamp of opinions.

As long as the newspaper guarantees that various sides in a dispute have their positions published in a more or less balanced way, it is fulfilling its role to foment public debate. I believe that Folha has acted this way in these two weeks.

Some readers asked for my opinion. In the role as ombudsman, my opinion about events is irrelevant. Revealing it publicly would serve to interfere with my work because any technical criticism that I do afterward could be interpreted as if I had been using it as a tool to favor my individual position.

After opinions, photographs of children were the point remembered by the biggest number of readers: 31, of which only three defended their publication. I already dealt with this aspect last week and maintain my position that, for now, the newspaper has acted within acceptable parameters, without slipping into morbidness or sensationalism.

Besides maintaining non-partisanship, the best coverage of the conflict has been the work of a foreign correspondent. Covering war is one of the most difficult tasks in journalism, especially when one of the sides limits the mobility of reporters, as the Israeli government has done by blocking entry into Gaza.

But the correspondent can, as Folha's has done, offer readers a perspective that really interests them, by knowing well how his readers think and bringing information that interests Brazil and Brazilians.

The best correspondent, as Evelyn Waugh showed in his genial novel indicated below, is one who can write as if sending letters to his family, alerting them about the points that he knows will get their attention.

The coverage is not free of mistakes. The lack of stories by correspondents from U.S. newspapers is incomprehensible and unjustifiable. Brazilian diplomatic initiatives have been reported but little analyzed. Through Friday, only one in-depth article and no interview tried to untangle it. In my opinion, Iran's important role in this conflict has not been shown. Editing has been lax concerning references to other pages in the newspaper where the topic is dealt with outside the news.

In general, however, the newspaper has done good coverage in this matter.

Hitler, Churchill, Obama, Lula and the relationship between physique and politics

Adolf Hitler was 1.73 meters tall and 78 kilos. Winston Churchill was shorter (1.7 meters) and fatter (more than 100 kilos). Seen from a distance, without their shirts, the German would create a more favorable impression with most people than would the Englishman.

It is plausible to assert that people would also give Churchill a hugely superior evaluation to that of Hitler as a national leader in the 1940s.

There is no reasonable relationship between physical appearance and political, administrative or any other type of performance in the public interest.

On Tuesday, however, the "Folha on the Go" section had the idea to publish, together, photos of the U.S. president elect, Barack Obama, and the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during walks along the beach dressed only in swimsuits (Lula is heavy-set).

Reader Fábio Henrique Gomes found the comparison "ridiculous." He said he has read Folha for decades and does not recall "something so grotesque for its uselessness and prejudice." I agree.

There are many reasons for the newspaper to exercise its right (and obligation) to criticize the president of this nation. His physical appearance is not among them.

To read

"Scoop," by Evelyn Waugh, translated by Roberto Perosa, Companhia das Letras Publishing, 1989 (starting at 10 reals, or U.S. $4.35 in used bookstores). The most amusing and intelligent story in literature about war correspondents

"Journalism and Disinformation," by Leão Serva, Senac Publishing, 2001 (starting at 30.02 reals). Reflections about the role of the press in situations of international conflict starting with the experience of the author as a war correspondent in the former Yugoslavia

"The Quiet American," by Graham Greene, translated by Cássio de Arantes Leite, Globo Publishing, 2007 (starting at 22.40 reals). Great novel inspired by the life of the author, who was a war correspondent in Vietnam in the 1950s

To see

"Promises," by Justine Arlin, Carlos Bolado and BZ Goldberg, 2001 (available to rent). Palestinian and Israeli children talk about their lives in Jerusalem (indicated by reader Cláudia Guimarães)

"Paradise Now," by Hany Abu-Assad, 2005 (starting at 12.90). Magnificent fiction about two Palestinian friends recruited to be suicide bombers in an attack in Tel Aviv

"Free Zone," by Amos Gitaï, 2005 (starting at 39.90 reals). A story about the trip of an American Jew from Jerusalem to Jordan, where her taxi driver will collect a debt from a Palestinian

Need remembering
Topics that need to be revisited

The case of Igor Ferreira, the prosecutor accused of killing his wife and a fugitive since April 2001

Who are letters to the editor? *

Letters from readers 60
Letters from people in the news 1
Centimeters given to readers 474
Centimeters given to people in the news 11
Centimeters about holidays 40

*From Jan. 3, 2009 to Jan. 9, 2009

Most commented topics of the week

1. Israel and the Palestinians
2. Sports topics
3. Economic crisis

What Folha did right...

Letters to the editor
Since placating critics of the section, this week it began to come close to publishing what it should be

Numbers that make sense
On Thursday, a story about the freeze of the São Paulo municipal budget treats enormous figures with precision, with comparisons that make sense for readers

...and where it was wrong

Columnists
Columnists and columns "disappear" from the newspaper, which does not inform readers about their whereabouts

Video for prisoners
News about approval of a law which allows video conferences for prisoners, a topic that deserved attention for weeks, but was hidden at the bottom of a page on Friday.

-Translation by John Wright