Voting So Near, Voters So Far Away

10/04/2016 - 15h00

The first round of municipal elections is being held today [Sunday 2] throughout the entire country under a mood of minimal mobilization and activism, apparent disinterest and the likelihood of a huge quantity of protest, null and/or blank votes.

Feedback from readers to the Ombudsman and to the Letters to the Editor has been rare. Has this general disinterest resulted in the newspaper's investment in the theme being timid? Or has the newspaper's timidity resulted in readers being disinterested?

It's likely that the first and the second both make sense, within the larger context of disenchantment with the political system as a whole, shaken to its foundation by the largest corruption investigation in history.

In the opinion of Alessandro Janoni, Datafolha's research director, there is an acute crisis of representativeness, with a rupture in the relationship of trust between representatives and the represented.

Datafolha has historically served as a rhumb line and fountain of electoral information, but Folha failed to look for explanations for the movements of candidates in polls, devaluing trend analysis and precious stratifications that its own surveys offered and that explain many of the open questions in the contests in São Paulo and other important capitals, like Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and Recife.

Readers deeply resented the assessment of the electoral framework. They missed articles intermingling backstage calculations, dissecting election microdata and projecting trends. The political reporting concentrated too heavily on speeches, registering gaffes and useless verbal confrontations, losing interest and relevance in the middle of campaigns and slogans made uniform by marketing.

Municipal elections are, theoretically, what potentially interest readers the most due to the proximity that they have to their real lives. Following this line the newspaper also could have done more in its print, but especially, in its digital edition.

In the paper edition, the 'Desafios de SP' (São Paulo Challenges) series included reporting about themes like transportation, urbanization, health, etc., together with tables illustrating the proposals of the candidates. On the website, the series was synthesized with videos in which a reporter or specialist columnist described the major issues. There was no extra reporting, no visually attractive or interactive infographics, no diagnostics of the city's problems, no comparison between different proposals.

I don't offer only criticism. There were good moments in coverage of campaign finance, for example - one of the important changes in this election - with up close and frequent reporting.

Since the 18th of September, a daily supplement composed of six pages with varied and quality columns (like humor, history, behind the scenes, etc.), had the merit of not restricting itself only to the election in the City of São Paulo. It managed to bring interesting reporting from other regions. It failed, however, in underestimating the São Paulo countyside, where a significant portion of its readers are located and where the Governor is from, and which has shown its political-electoral strength.

Folha made some interesting bets in its digital edition. The profile of the 50 city assemblymen running for re-election in the Capital was good and useful, for example. But this is light years away from what it's possible to do in these days where campaigns are run on social media and contributions are made personally.

The difficulty in finding information on Folha's website is often frustrating. The newspaper wastes good initiatives that get lost in the infinite digital world by not being listed in a user-friendly menu offered to the reader.

The most relevant journalistic aspect for evaluation in this first part of the campaign is related to the issue of balance and non-partisanship.

Based upon its own analysis, the newspaper claims to have provided unbiased coverage. I tend to agree that it has, although I still haven't had access to the detailed analysis itself nor the classification definitions. The newspaper promises to publish its complete methodology on the website.

One reader, for example, noted titles in the "2016 Elections" supplement for seven days in a row and concluded: "It seems that the newspaper has a preference for Haddad and is trying to tear down Doria. Is that right?" Since there is a lot of subjectivity in this evaluation, it's important that the newspaper transparently inform what it considered to be positive, negative or neutral.

Folha maintained its standards for electoral coverage, but just did more of the same thing. Impactful investigations, new approaches and creativity were lacking in the digital edition.

In most of the country's principal capitals the election will likely go on to the second round. With fewer candidates and without so much competition from other news events, beyond Lava Jato (Car Wash) and the ongoing electoral campaign in the United States, the newspaper could still provide more ambitions coverage for the election.

Journalism is in the process of being reinvented, its procedures, approaches and presentation.