07/06/2009

Everybody already knew

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

Readers showed their frustration over the decision to turn the newspaper into a bearer of information already reported on TV and the Internet

"The headline would be good for 1921 (the year Folha was founded) when there was no TV or Internet. Today it looks more like yesterday's newspaper. Everybody already knows." That is what reader José Antonio Pessoa de Mello wrote to the ombudsman on Tuesday about the front page of the day, almost totally dedicated to the accident involving the Air France Airbus.

Mello Oliveira concluded: "The author of the headline needs to be more mindful that it is not possible to recreate the impact of news that was already reported. The headline should explore a development of the initial information. It is an onus that the newspaper must accept."

The same day, reader Patricia Sperandio asked "how is it possible for a newspaper to show up on the newsstands in the morning with such an old headline?" and speculated: "The main headline in Folha today explains why the print newspaper is, increasingly, losing pace to other media."

Diogo Ruic suggested: "I recommend that headlines, mainly on the front page, bring something new for those who are seeking information. The newspaper does not need to deal with something so old, but it must ponder what is really new. Or does anyone doubt that 99% of subscribers already knew about the airplane crash?"

Various other readers expressed frustration with the editorial decision to make the newspaper a bearer of information reported on TV, radio and the Internet the previous day, on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm with them.

What should be done? I admit that it's difficult. But it is necessary to have the courage to make mistakes while making changes and to make the public understand that it is willing to change. Anything that signals to readers that this newspaper respects their intelligence and will not repeat what they already know would be better.

Another aspect of coverage of the tragedy which mobilized readers was the news surrounding the victims, especially the use of photos of some of them which were taken from their pages in Internet social networking sites.

Personally, the assault by journalists of families of accident victims always made me very uncomfortable. But it is undeniable that the duty of journalism is to tell the stories of accident victims who become public, and if this is done in a respectful way it can serve as an homage to them and preserve their memory. And when someone puts their photographs on Orkut and similar websites, they should know that they can be accessed by anyone.

About Cuba, the AOS and fulfillment of the 2001 letter

Folha did well in its coverage of the important assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) that canceled the suspension that had been imposed on Cuba 47 years ago.

A special report from Honduras was not rushed when the meeting seemed to have come to an impasse early Wednesday morning. For this reason readers were correctly informed that the topic was still on the agenda until, on Thursday, they got a complete, precise report about the final consensus when it came out.

However, in my opinion, the newspaper did not give the needed attention to the implication for the 2001 charter that imposes specific clauses toward that regime and its members, which should be respected by all.

It deals with observations by Cuba about these prejudices that will negotiate its effective reintegration into the entity. Folha could have expected this debate this week. But still it could do it in the next, giving space to the studious experts and authorities with conflicting opinions about the topic for the reader to form his opinion.

To read

"Black Box - The Story about Three Brazilian Air Disasters," by Ivan Sant'Anna, Objectiva Publishing, 2000 (starting at 36.82 reals, or US $18.75)

To see

"Airport 77," by Jerry Jameson, with Jack Lemmon (staring at 10 reals on sites which sell used movies)

What Folha did right...

Environment
A special section on Friday carried balanced stories, efficient artwork, an original survey and relevant topics about one of the most important contemporary problems

Folhateen
An excellent edition commemorated 18 years of the supplement

...And where it did badly

Congressional Coverage
The newspaper continues to cover Congress as it does soccer, only reporting the results of games (with nothing about them on previous days) or not even the results; on Thursday, for example, it gave the result of approval of the proposed law which increases restrictions on the dismissal of pregnant women, a topic it has not covered before; on Saturday, May 30, it announced that the budget law project would be voted on Tuesday, June 2, and did not return to the topic

South Ossetia
A year ago, the country was on the front page every day; this week, it held elections that were ignored by the newspaper

Worth remembering
Cases that need to be looked at again

How is the investigation into the murder of 23-year-old motorcycle delivery boy Alberto Milfont Júnior? He was shopping at Casas Bahia by a security guard at the store on Nov. 10, 2008 when he was buying a mattress.

Topics most commented during the week

1. Publicity by the Lula administration
2. Flight 447
3. Third term

Who is letters to the editor?
Letters
from readers 45
from people in the news 14

Centimeters
from readers 334
from people in the news 171
*from May 30 to June 5, 2009

-Translation by John Wright