28/06/2009
In Iran it's Paradise for Citizen Journalism
CARLOS EDUARDO LINS DA SILVA
ombudsman@uol.com.br
It's impossible to guarantee the prevailing mood in Iran from what is contained in messages which arrive by new technologies
The repression by the Iranian regime against the activities of local and foreign journalists after the results of the presidential election were contested once again showed the importance of new communications technologies, with their pros and cons, in contemporary society.
With news organizations far from the combat, everyday people became the only source for information about what was happening in the country, via cell phones and web-based communities.
Iran was transformed into a paradise of "citizen journalism," with benefits and risks. Without it, it's possible that nobody would know what happened there.
But it is very difficult to distinguish which information from isolated and unknown individuals has credibility.
The phenomenon is not new. The second book indicated below shows the work of an Iraqi who became famous for his blog before and during the American invasion of 2003. For a long time there was doubt about whether that person really exists.
The big icon of Iran's revolutionary revolution, Neda, whose reported assassination was recorded on a cell phone, does not have its authenticity guaranteed.
As the managing editor explains: "The only way to prove the authenticity of the video would be to check with the person who made it and the victim's family, which is impossible, given the restrictions imposed by the Iranian authorities on activities by the foreign press --Folha's correspondent in Tehran had his visa revoked and was forced to leave the country."
Even if you believe everything that comes through the new media is true, you still have to take into account that people able to send these messages don't necessarily represent the totality of society.
Those who speak English and have access to computers and cell phones are one segment of the population, mostly young, well educated, affluent and pro-Western. They are people like Iranian cinematographer Samira Makhmalbaf, director of the excellent film recommended below, which shows (in current Afghanistan) how these young men and women feel sympathetic toward the opening, while older and less-educated people adhere sincerely to Islamic orthodoxy.
It's impossible to guarantee the prevailing mood in Iran from what is contained in messages which come from there via by new technologies.
An excellent report published here on Thursday told that two American public opinion polling organizations, after getting samples nationwide from all classes, predicted that Ahmadinejad would win the election by a margin bigger than the official results showed. As well, traditional news organizations along with new ones could have made the classic failure covering topics in foreign countries because the journalist believes information and interpretations of people who seem like him and, for this reason, reaches habitual conclusions.
The king of pop in Folha's headline
The selection of news about the death of Michael Jackson as a headline on the front page of Folha on Friday has more implications than a quick analysis would suggest.
It could indicate that the newspaper is moving in the direction of abdicating its role of forming public opinion and citizenship to compete with electronic media in the world of celebrities, the business of entertainment and variety. This is competition that, in my opinion, the news organizations are fated to lose if they indeed pursue it.
It's obvious that information about Jackson is important and should be at the top of the front page. But not as the main headline without reporting anything new, revealing or surprising to readers.
Playing on the opponent's field, with outdated versions as its weapons, seems to me a strategy that is doomed.
How many of Jackson's fans will leave their computer and TV screens to look at the printed edition of Folha to read information they already know?
And how many readers feel frustrated seeing that geopolitical, economic, social and political topics in which they are more interested were given less prominence?
To read
"The Iranian Revolution," by Emília Viotti da Costa, Unesp Publishing, 2007 (starting at 15.80 reals, or US $8)
"The Baghdad Blog," by Salam Pax (translation by Daniel Galera), Companhia das Letras Publishing, 2003 (starting at 40.04 reals)
To see
"At 5 P.M.," by Samira Makmalbaf, 2003 (at Cult Cinema on July 25 and July 28)
What Folha did right...
Crisis at USP
Finally, on Sunday, after a long delay, the newspaper published stories with important data about the crisis at the University of São Paulo (USP), besides good opinion pieces which discussed the problems in depth
...And where it did badly
Gilmar Mendes
The Op-Ed section on Sunday carried an opinion piece by the chief justice of the Supreme Court and of the National Justice Council (CNJ) praising the performance of the CNJ; on May 18, a different piece, by attorney Sérgio Bermudes, praising the activities of the Supreme Court and CNJ under Mendes' leadership; when will it publish a discordant piece?
Strategic plan
The newspaper has covered too little and poorly the public meetings for the revision the city of São Paulo's strategic plan
Divorce
Final approval in the Senate commissions altering the process of divorce in the country went unnoticed in the news, demonstrating again how badly the newspaper covers activities in Congress which don't involve scandal or gossip
Worth remembering
Cases that need to be looked at again
How is the investigation into the murder of motorcyclist Firmino Barbosa by prosecutor Pedro Baracat Guimarães Pereira? The newspaper has not dealt with the topic since October 2008
Who is letters to the editor?
Letters
from readers 45
from people in the news 15
Centimeters
from readers 316
from people in the news 205
*from June 20 to June 26, 2009
Topics most commented during the week
1. José Sarney (former president and current Senate leader)
2. Gay parade in Morumbi
3. USP
-Translation by John Wright
