23/08/2009

When God enters the coverage

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

The difficulty of covering with exactness topics regarding religion is noteworthy; mastering it requires study and dedication

It's an old saying that to avoiding risking unity with family and friends, it is best not to discuss sports, politics and religion. They are topics that have the ability to mobilize intense interest and emotion in many people who frequently identify with their team, political party or church with great passion and little rationality.

Unfortunately for journalists, it is impossible to not deal with these first two topics. Religion, curiously, appears little, by comparison, on the agenda of Brazilian news organizations, including this one. This month, however, it has entered Folha's coverage with unprecedented frequency.

After not placing any importance on the agreement between Brazil and the Holy See signed in November, the newspaper awoke now when ratification is being debated in the Chamber of Deputies.

But there is still a lot to do. As it progresses, a proposal for "a general law about religions" is also being discussed. On Aug. 11, the headline in this newspaper was about the start of a criminal case against leaders of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. All the stories published were correct.

But the newspaper left out fundamental aspects, such as what features distinguish this church from other evangelical denominations. This could have helped avoid the impression by some readers that editing allowed the Universal Church to be confused with the rest. It also missed the chance to stimulate essential debate for society about the confluence of religion, partisan politics and news organizations, regarding not only the Universal Church.

The initiative by public officials to remove religious symbols from public buildings, reported Aug. 5, provided some reflection about secularism by the state and whether it has been respected as it should. But, again, not very deeply.

Similar to the state, a newspaper for a wide and diverse public, such as this newspaper, should be secular. This has been the position reiterated by Folha. But when religious topics are in focus more often, such as now, accusations arise that it favors or persecutes this or that church, as happens with soccer teams and political parties.

The difficulty covering with impartiality and exactness topics regarding religion is clear and noteworthy. Mastering it requires substantial investment in study and dedication. Not only is the sensitivity to the public in this field enormous, so is the complexity about differences among churches and the inside of each one, which can be learned by reading the book indicated below.

More than intellectual knowledge, dealing with religions requires learning sensitivity. The movie recommended below shows how to deal with these topics in a subtle, delicate way that is not superficial. It is obvious that this is always less complicated to deal with in art than in journalism.

NOTHING MORE THAN A WAR OF WORDS

The topics that have riveted the public for weeks - such as a war of words involving even President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva about whether or not an encounter between the president's chief of staff and head of the tax service happened - say a lot said about the level of quality of Brazilian politics and journalistic coverage.

Since Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff (a candidate for president in next year's election) denied meeting with Lina Vieira, the tax official, one of the biggest priorities of good journalism should have been to find out how the schedules of public officials in this country are registered.

But this aspect was approached timidly by Folha in stories about the matter, which focus on the mutual attacks launched by each person.

It is inconceivable, under the prism of necessary transparency about the activities of public officials, that none of the parties can prove with documentation whether or not they met.

For society, the only positive effect of this fracas would be the installation of new practices to register documents of those who come and go at work locations of public employees, similar to those which exist in offices and condominiums.

If this depends on editorial willingness demonstrated up to now by this newspaper, nothing will change.

TO READ

"The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict, Volume 2," by F.E. Peters, translation by Jaime Clasen, Contexto Publishing, 2008 (starting at 49.56 reals, or U.S. $27.10)

TO SEE

"A River Runs Through It," by Robert Redford, with Brad Pitt, 1992 (starting at 9.90 reals)

WHAT FOLHA DID RIGHT...

AFGHANISTAN
Excellent coverage of the Afghan presidential election

MÉDICI AND NIXON
An important revelation exclusive on Sunday about contacts between Brazil and the United States to undermine the Salvador Allende government in Chile in 1973

GILBERTO GIL
A good story and interview on Friday about the tax incentives for the DVD and show by the singer-songwriter who was Brazil's former culture minister

... AND WHERE IT DID BADLY

DATAFOLHA
Since the survey of voter intentions was underestimated by the newsroom, 42% say that Lula's endorsement could make them vote for a candidate

GAME IN PALESTINE
Again, in different sections, the newspaper says the game between Corinthians and Flamengo in Palestine was canceled and will be played

WHO IS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR?

Letters
from readers 39
from people in the news 17

Centimeters
from readers 278
from people in the news 222
*from Aug. 15 to 21, 2009

TOPICS MOST COMMENTED DURING THE WEEK

1. José Sarney (former president and current Senate leader)
2. Datafolha poll
3. Dilma versus Lina

WORTH REMEMBERING

Cases that need to be looked at again

Today marks 10 consecutive weeks that the most commented topic by readers to the ombudsman is José Sarney.

Translation by John Wright