Innocence in the Line of Fire

07/11/2016 - 09h35

Ítalo, 10, died after being hit by a bullet fired by a police officer who was chasing a stolen car that he was driving beside an 11-year-old friend. The tragedy was reported by Folha in a two-column teaser on the front page (June 4).

Together with two adolescents, ages 13 and 14, Waldik, 11, was riding in the back seat of a Chevette when he was struck in the temple and died. The bullet came from the revolver of a municipal police officer who pursued the car carrying suspects in a robbery. The crime was the main story on Monday (June 27). That's a rare choice for a newspaper which prefers to highlight political and economic news.

What they had in common was that both were youths who had a tragic destiny after police operations using techniques that were, at the very least, questionable. In both cases, the journalistic reports were based on information provided basically by police.

Sharing a similar destiny was adolescent Robert, 15, killed by police one day before, also accused of car theft. His case did not end up on the front page. His death waited three days before it was published by the newspaper, narrated at the foot of a page in the daily news section (June 29).

Days later, university student Júlio César died after being shot in the head and the car he was driving was hit by at least 16 bullets during a police chase on the east side of São Paulo. He ran through a roadblock, according to the police. His death was reported in a small teaser on the front page.

These cases have a similar and unfortunate dynamic. They were given different treatment by the newspaper. Certainly they were not the only young victims of violence during the month of June. A study pointed out that 29 children and adolescents are murdered in this nation every day. Why and when should they be reported by Folha and with what attention?

For the first part of the question, the answer is always. The country should not allow murder to become banal, especially of children and adolescents. As for how much attention, every case is a case, but it's important to seek a standard.

Any coverage of crime that involves children, adolescents and youth requires special caution and attention redoubled by journalists. In two ways in particular: how to treat and protect children from embarrassing information and how to deal with information provided by a child about criminal events that they witnessed.

Police accounts should be reported with critical distance and their conduct compared to technical standards of security.

The newspaper must seek technical information which proves or refutes accounts, whether by children or police. To stick to basics: was the scene of the crime kept intact? Do eyewitness accounts coincide or collide with the information collected by investigations? It's necessary that stories in such cases avoid hearsay and seek technical evidence.

Folha had irregular performance in the cases cited.

For many readers, Folha always takes the side of victims and against the police. "The newspaper in its partiality only takes into account the side of the person who committed the crime," said one reader. "Does it seek to make readers believe that the police executed an innocent and defenseless child?" questioned another.

It's true that Folha gave little space to the defense of security forces in the crimes above. On June 30, "O Estado de São Paulo" had a scoop by carrying an interview with the municipal police officer accused of shooting youth Waldik.

The newspaper should not judge, nor should it behave as an ally of police or as an entity to protect the weak and oppressed. Its obligation to readers is to relate the most details possible about the facts, highlight the inconsistencies of versions, perform its own checking and not limit itself to the lopsided police report.

In the investigation and the story about the line of fire of police, there can be no journalistic innocence.

Lawbreaker or in conflict with the law?

A story last week reported that "two out of three lawbreaker minors do not have a father at home." The use of the expression "lawbreaker minors" was questioned by researcher Thiago Oliveira of the Center for Studies About Violence at São Paulo University. He proposed instead using an alternative "adolescents in conflict with the law." That is not journalistic.

Folha's stylebook suggests avoiding the term "minor" in favor of more precise vocabulary, such as "child" or "adolescent." The head of the editing desk, Vinicius Mota, has no problem using the adjective "lawbreaker" to describe adolescents who commit an infraction in terms of the law and according to the documents from judicial authorities.

In my opinion, the problem is that, sometimes, the term is used without proof of an infraction.

Translated by JOHN WRIGHT

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