Sense and Insensitivity

11/17/2014 - 11h57

There were dozens of messages, most of them motivated by the same mood: amazement with the event, indignation about the form, and resentment over the indifference.

The dismissal of Fernando Rodrigues and Eliane Cantanhêde was a disastrous operation, not only for the loss that it imposed on readers, but mainly for the lack of sensitivity in carrying out the process. The newspaper ignored those it serves - the readers.

The two columnists were fired on Friday (Nov. 7), the result of cutbacks which claimed 14 journalists and 17 positions. In corporate speak, it was an adjustment to rein in costs inflated by the World Cup and presidential elections, the same factors which, along with the withering economy, led to a drop in profits.

In the irreverent jargon of newsrooms, these cuts, which have become periodic, are called "passaralho" in Portuguese - because they arrive like birds and cause the flock to take off.

The logic that led to the dismissal of two of the most prominent names is simple and crude: after successive downsizing, newsrooms no longer have any fat to trim, and the target turns to bigger salaries, to those with higher positions and/or more time on the job.

In the coldness of the spreadsheet, the release of an old employee can save a half dozen (or more) positions.

Fernando was at the company for 27 years; Eliane for 17. On a team with more than 120 columnists in permanent flux, they were brands with deep roots who formed the "core" of the columnist team.

Their names are profoundly identified with the newspaper's reputation and its readership, a two-way relationship which was not totally understood or treated properly.

"We should all be in agreement that the newspaper has the right to get rid of any contributor. However, in a big organization which maintains a close relationship with the public, that ends up not being faithful even to itself, but to its spokesmen, dismissals without an explanation are like the loss of a friend, which we only learn about through third parties. This ends up being a shock," described lawyer Eliseu Rosendo Nuñez Viciana of São Paulo.

"What's worse is that the newspaper did not have the dignity to explain the reasons to its subscribers/payers. This superior attitude only serves to increase the lack of confidence," echoed José Luiz Pereira da Silva, of Mogi Mirim.

Ironically, Folha did not remember the "other side." Readers knew about the dismissals on Friday (7) from social networks and websites (some of them more interested in deforming than informing).

The newspaper only made the announcement on Sunday (9), but it did not mention reasons. Once again, it failed to explain with clarity a decision motivated by unfavorable budgetary circumstances.

It's a bad deal for an institution's image. Newspapers and journalists know that no story is told halfway: the missing part will be filled in by versions of every type. In this case, theories even formed that the dismissals were the result of pressure by the presidential palace.

That is nonsense generated by the polarization during the recent election. The newspaper continues to have numerous columnists who are extremely critical of the administration.

But the newspaper helps to feed this nonsense with a restrictive diet of information, visible in the response by the managing editor's office, sent to the ombudsman: "Folha seeks to renew from time to time part of its cast of columnists. Sometimes this is forced by the economic situation, other times by an editorial decision. To give recent examples, Tati Bernardi replaced Barbara Gancia, and Antonio Prata took over Danuza Leão's spot."

With this, Eliseu will continue to not know why he lost his friend.

UNDUE IMPLICATION

The daily news section jumped the gun and ran over São Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad last Sunday (Nov. 9).

It put on the front page a story by Roberto de Faria Torres, a public employee under investigation for corruption by investigators, in the subhead: "Engineer in Haddad administration has 4,000-real (U.S. $1,500) salary (per month) and 9 luxury cars."

Torres, caught red handed in a video seeking money to free a businessman from an investigation over permits, is a public employee since 2006 after passing a civil service exam.

He was not appointed to any post during the current administration or previous ones - he is trained as an engineer, but that's not his job. The story does not show any indication or suspicion of any link to Haddad in the case.

City Hall and many readers reacted, contesting the undue connection, in messages to "Letters to the Editor." The newsroom gave a perfect response: "The engineer ... is an employee of the city of São Paulo, run by Fernando Haddad."

"(There is) this arrogance in newsrooms that they are always right, even with factual errors," wrote reader Dirceu Furquim. "This or that 'correction' is to fix the time of a movie or give the right name when the wrong one came out. It is not a serious reflection of the newspaper's contents or exaggerations, nothing."

Furquim got the adjective and the diagnosis right. There is no policy to correct these frivolities which damage the newspaper's credibility.

Translated by JOHN WRIGHT

Read the article in the original language