Prohibiting Information Is Never a Solution

07/28/2015 - 14h10

The Foundation for Adolescent Social Education, formerly Febem, filed a case in court and managed to suspend a report in Folha whose publication was planned for last Sunday (July 19) about the psychological evaluation exams which underlie the decisions whether to hold or release minors who commit illegal acts.

The newspaper had committed itself to holding back any data which could identify a minor -as it has done for years, by the way- but the judge argued that the information was secret and that its publication could violate the Children and Adolescents Statute.

Folha held the story, submitted the contents to its legal team and, after certifying that it would not violate the statute, decided to publish, without changes, in Wednesday's edition (July 22). It did the right thing.

The newsroom and the São Paulo state government, which has authority over the Foundation for Adolescent Social Education, exchanged barbs in the Letters to the Editor, the former accusing the latter of censorship and the latter questioning the journalistic validity of a story based on only eight cases leaked to the reporter, an insignificant number out of the total held. Both sides had a point.

The São Paulo state government is right to mention the small amount of data, but the solution to this problem is in their hands - and it does not go into to the attempts to block it in court. Everyone in society would win if São Paulo state gave these numbers about juvenile delinquency the same treatment that it gives to adult criminality, regularly released and debated.

The discussion about the age at which juveniles can be prosecuted, for example, could be done with more solid bases, without hysteria or ideology.

The Children and Adolescents Statute protects the identities and personal information about minors, but it does not prohibit the release of numbers, methods, and failures, which could (and should) guide public policies.

It is not because of the statute that this does not occur. Less than two months ago, when Folha had a headline about juvenile criminality nationwide, only nine of the 27 states provided data. São Paulo, unfortunately, was among those which did not.

For a state in which the governor has a firm, public position about the necessity to change the speed of incarceration, it is a difficult attitude to understand.

OMISSION OF THE OUTCOME

The headline on Nov. 26, 2014 said: "Brother of Former Urban Affairs Minister Turns Self Over to Federal Police."

The subhead was: "Tied to black market dollar dealer, Adarico Negromonte Filho was the last fugitive in the Car Wash scandal." To the side was a big photo which showed a federal police officer taking a man with white hair.

Practically every newspaper ran photos of this person, but only Folha made the case into a headlining story.

Adarico Filho was one of those turned in by black market dollar dealer Alberto Youssef. He only gained prominence because he is the brother of former Urban Affairs Minister Mário Negromonte of the Progressive Party, accused of receiving bribes in the Car Wash scandal.

The relationship inflated his arrival on the scene, but expectations withered quickly, and he was released days later. Last Monday (July 20), judge Sergio Moro absolved him for lack of evidence.

In the other newspapers, the event was registered at the bottom of a story about sentencing of executives at construction contractor Camargo Corrêa -space infinitely smaller than that given to his arrest. Folha didn't even do this. The newspaper did not publish a single line about the verdict, not even in digital form.

The absolution did not mean that Adarico Filho could not have been involved in some other tentacle of the Car Wash scandal, but that is a problem for the future.

The role of newspapers is to register the present without losing their view of the past: if the person got a lot of attention when he was accused, it is obligated to report his absolution.

The premise was recalled in an internal critique by the ombudsman and, on Friday (July 24), the newspaper corrected the omission with a good inside story and a teaser on the front page. Nothing could be more fair.

Translated by JOHN WRIGHT

Read the article in the original language