12/04/2009

Staying Protected From Denials

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

Publication of the entire interview could settle doubts in cases in which the source contests what the reporter wrote, such as the story about Dilma Rousseff

Last Sunday, I wrote in my daily evaluation of this newspaper's editions about a front page reproduction of the police file about Dilma Rousseff (currently chief of staff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) by the former military dictatorship: "Using the police file to illustrate an interview with her (Dilma's) colleague in the armed struggle seemed to me was pushing the envelope. The right thing, in my opinion, would be to run a photo of Antonio Espinosa."

This "pushing the envelope" (similar to Wednesday, when the director of the National Petroleum Agency, or ANP, Victor Martins, accused of irregularities, was identified in the headline of a teaser and story as "Franklin's brother"), referring to Communications Minister Franklin Martins, certainly contributed to readers believing that the newspaper said Dilma had planned the kidnaping of then-Minister Delfim Netto in 1969.

The story received more serious criticism during the week. Antonio Roberto Espinosa, former head of the (rebel) group VAR-Palmares, to which the minister belonged, and the main source for the published story, contested part of the contents.

In my opinion, the most serious allegations are: he denied having said that Dilma knew of the plan to kidnap Delfim (making the distinction between "political information" which she could have had, and "factual information" which she did not have) and the operation which had the location and data defined.

With a two-day delay, which I found to be inevitable with a dose of flexibility, Folha published Espinosa's response and refutation. The newsroom said that all of the statements which prove what came out Sunday were recorded.

I recommended to the newspaper that it publish the transcript of the recording to settle doubts. It responded the following to me: "It makes no sense to reproduce Espinosa's statements again. They were already in Sunday's story.... We consider publication of the interviewee's letter and an editor's note to be sufficient."

I maintain the recommendation. The electronic edition of the newspaper (Folha Online) has no space limitations as does the print edition. It could publish the transcript of the interview in its entirety as well as reproduce the audio.

Finally, one of the motivations to record interviews (this, for its importance, should have been done in person, not by telephone) is to prove what the newspaper published. As Folha's Stylebook says: "The journalist who uses a tape recorder is protected from denials."

Each reader should read or listen to it and reach his own conclusions. And these conclusions are diverse among themselves because every person always understands what he wants from any speech.

I received 58 messages from readers about the report. Five said they considered it "imprudent propaganda given about Dilma." The other 53 believe that it tried to damage her presidential aspirations.

In any event, the newspaper owes readers similar reports about activities during the military regime by other principal aspirants to the presidency in 2010.

To repair damage, journalism could get rid of the hook

Imagine this situation: you or someone close to you suffers a stroke and the doctor decides to fight the resulting muscular rigidity (spasticity) with the Botulinus toxin.

Then you read that the newspaper reported it this way: use of the Botulinus toxin for this illness is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the only doctor quoted said that few colleagues are trained to give this treatment; and there was no information about the position of Anvisa, the Brazilian equivalent of the FDA.

You might feel insecure about the treatment used by your doctor. Even more so because many health plans in this country question and comment about it.

This concerns a story like that, which came out in Folha on March 30, about which a reader and physician, Cristiano Milani, complained to the ombudsman. He said that while the FDA still has not approved the Botulinus toxin for strokes (which is not the same as rejection), but Anvisa has authorized it for this purpose since 2000 (information which the agency's website verifies) and the experience accumulated on the method in Brazil made it "one of the main therapeutic tools" in the rehabilitation of spasticity patients.

I recommended to the newspaper that it publish a report dealing with information that Anvisa authorized the use of the Botulinus toxin for stroke patients and diverse opinions of Brazilian doctors about the effectiveness of this medication in these cases.

Through Thursday night, the newsroom refused to put out such a story, believing that there was no "hook" (recent event) that justifies it. I believe that the health page does not need a hook for its coverage and that repairing the possible damage the March 30 report could have caused is reason enough to do this.

To read

"The Open Dictatorship," by Elio Gaspari, Companhia das Letras Publishing, 2002 (starting at 38.85 reals, or U.S. $17.90) One of the best, most complete and precise accounts about the military regime between 1969 and 1974
"Fighting in the Darkness," by Jacob Gorender, Ática Publishing, 1998 (starting at 19.70 reals on sites which sell used books) The reconstruction, based on surveys and personal experience, of resistance to the dictatorship between 1964 and 1974

To see

"Lamarca," by Sergio Rezende, with Paulo Betti and Carla Camurati, 1994 (starting at 20 reals on sites which sell used movies) Tells the story of Carlos Lamarca, who belonged to the VPR Group and its successor, Var-Palmares

What Folha did right...

Adriano
On Tuesday, when the world's press all believed that soccer player Adriano "disappeared," a story in Folha said that he was in the Vila Cruzeiro slum in Rio

...And where it did badly

Italy quake
The headline on Tuesday told what every reader already knew (that there was a quake in Italy) and gave information that all readers already knew was outdated (that there were 150 deaths)

Denise Abreu
A brief reported Tuesday that a court had dropped the case against Denise Abreu, the former director of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), 15 days earlier; when the case against her began, it got a lot of space and play

Municipal Theater
A complaint about overbilling in the purchase of musical instruments by São Paulo's Municipal Theater came out in many news organizations two weeks ago, but Folha ignored it.

-Translation by John Wright