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Folha Rejects Coup Thesis, But Does Not See Budget Manipulation as Justification for Rousseff's Removal

09/08/2016 - 14h53

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PAULA CESARINO COSTA

Dilma (Rousseff) is out, (Michel) Temer is in. This has been Brazil's state since the 31st of August, after the Senate voted 61 to 20 for the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the first woman to be elected, and re-elected as President of the Republic.

On April 3, Folha stamped on its front page an editorial entitled "Neither Dilma Nor Temer", in which it affirmed that the President had lost the minimum conditions necessary to govern and argued that she should resign, along with her Vice-President, Michel Temer. The newspaper preached at that time that a new presidential election should be held.

The impeachment process passed through its various phases and Folha frequently reiterated its position. "The newspaper never considered the pedaling (budget manipulation) and the supplementary credit to be sufficient motives for justification of the impeachment", reminds Sérgio Dávila, Folha's editor-in-chief.

In an editorial on the 1st of September, Folha reiterated that "it would have been preferable that the extreme gravity of the crisis and nonconformity of society would have led to the resignation or impugnment of the slate elected in 2014, which would have in turn led to new direct elections.

It continued: "The process took place in strict obedience to the Constitution, assuring ample opportunity for the right to defense and under the supervision of a Supreme Court beyond suspicion or reproach. The accusations of budgetary fraud, however, while relevant as grounds for impeachment, never seemed irrefutable and sounded to the lay majority like an obscure technicality, and to a significant minority, as the pretext for a parliamentary 'coup d'état'".

Readers complained that the newspaper didn't confirm its position regarding the impeachment in a categorical and simple fashion without equivocation. Folha didn't "get off the fence" said one.

Dávila believes that the newspaper has been crystal clear in its position. "For Folha, a new government would have more legitimacy if it had been directly elected by the people, but it doesn't follow from this that the impeachment has been illegitimate - and much less that it has been illegal. Therefore, no coup took place", he affirmed.

The point commented on most was the argument about the characterization of the president's removal process as a "coup". Many cited the international press.

Seasoned columnists, like Clóvis Rossi, Elio Gaspari, Janio de Freitas and Marcelo Coelho expressed their points of view surrounding the existence or non-existence of a coup in Dilma's removal. Even between them, certainly among the most qualified and independent members of the Brazilian press, there were divergences and convergences regarding the theme.

Folha readers followed the discussion with a remarkable attitude. Each one should be allowed to make up his own mind about the process in the manner that seemed most solidly justified to himself.

Folha's position took into consideration the nuances of the political process, while its direct competitors, "O Estado de S. Paulo" and "O Globo" came out publicly in favor of impeachment without mincing words.

In a general sense, I believe it is possible to affirm that Folha's coverage was balanced, even if at times minor mistakes or errors may have been committed.

It's important to consider that the political-news vectors, for a number of reasons that are more social than journalistic, were generally against Dilma.

The country was in the midst of a recession of historic levels, the PT (Workers' Party) was under investigation in the Lava Jato (Car Wash) Operation, the PT's governing base had eroded, and as a consequence of all of this, her popularity and approval ratings had plummeted.

There are many possible ways to analyze this, but I dedicated myself to the examination of all of Folha's headlines since April in search of trends in news coverage. The impeachment process generates a heavy load of negative news for its protagonist.

It's understandable that a considerable share of the negative developments regarding Dilma made it into the headlines. During this period, Folha published 32 headlines that I considered to be negative and 13 that were positive.

It's undeniable that the greatest beneficiary of Dilma's crisis is Temer, her Vice-President and legal successor. It also understandable that Temer's earlier promises served himself and painted a favorable narrative. There were 34 positive headlines; and only 24 negative ones.

In the last five months, political developments have worked positively in Temer's favor and negatively against Dilma.

As the saying goes, it isn't journalistic to argue for equal treatment of politically distinct situations. It doesn't make sense for the newspaper to produce a similar number of headlines both favorable and unfavorable for Dilma and Temer, since political developments aren't following the same proportion.

Therefore, I think it is fair to say that the newspaper strived to fulfill its role of vigilant critic with Dilma, but has been less investigative and combative with Temer's government. This is the impression that I'm left with after reviewing the 154 headlines.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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