No Hope and No Balance

12/11/2017 - 13h31

Recent police operations targeting alleged irregularities in public universities have provoked scathing reactions from readers. They have attacked the Federal Police, Federal Prosecutors and their methods.

They complain that Folha simply reproduces the version given by the accusers, without providing any visibility or space to the justifications offered by those accused. They also question whether the newspaper is in some way supporting what some readers see as a campaign against public universities.

Within one year, since the end of 2016, at least six spectacular police operations have been triggered to investigate possible irregularities. Images of uniformed and armed police on university campuses don't bring back fond memories. It reminds many of the military dictatorship, which was strongly opposed by much of the university public.

It is necessary here to quickly summarize the police operations that I am referring to. In December 2016, Operation PhD investigated a possible diversion of funds from research incentive programs at the Federal University of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

In February of 2017, the Federal Police (PF), the Federal Comptroller General (CGU) and the Federal Accounts Auditing Tribunal launched Operation Research, which investigated alleged irregular transfers of resources though systematic, fraudulent payments involving millions in scholarships to people with no connection to the Federal University of the State of Parana (UFPR).

In September, the target of the PF was the Federal University of the State of Santa Catarina (UFSC) during Operation Ouvidos Moucos (Small Ears). The Rector, Luiz Carlos Cancellier was arrested, charged with obstructing the investigations and irregularities in awarding scholarships for distance learning. It has turned into the most contested police operation so far, as it led to Cancellier's suicide.

In November, Operation Estirpe (Strain) investigated overbilling and fraud at the Federal University of the Triângulo Mineiro (UFMG).

During the same month, a former Rector of the Federal University of the City of Juiz de Fora (JFJF) was accused of receiving a bribe from a graphics company in a tender for the printing and distribution of tests for competitive job and university entrance exams, under the umbrella of Operation Acrônimo (Acronym).

Last week, a new operation by the PF and the CGU at UFSC - Torre de Marfim campus - was launched with the objective of investigating public servants with assets incompatible with their earnings.

Finally, Operation Esperança Equilibrista, which is investigating possible diversion of public resources in the construction of the Memorial of Anistia Política (Political Amnesty), resulted in a compulsory proceeding against the Rector and University Professors at UFMG (the Federal University of the State of Minas Gerais), which has generated major protests in the academic community.

The frequent occurrence of police operations in environments that have traditionally been bathed an aura of moral superiority begs a greater reflection.

The first impression one gets is that Folha, especially, has not given the priority necessary to the police operations - whether conducted properly technically or not - in an environment in which a large part of the public live on very modest budgets.

Obviously, no institution is completely free from potential irregularities nor should any be treated as untouchable.

However, there is growing public opinion that there has been a banalization of the use of temporary arrests throughout the country. There are frequent calls for consistent justifications of compulsory proceedings. Operations should not be allowed to degenerate into scenes from television police series. The press has a responsibility regarding the way that they cover these police actions.

For Eduardo Scolese, the editor of the "Daily Life" section, the coverage follows the same journalistic criteria that is used in other police operations and there is no agenda being pursued. "We publish the facts, the allegations by the authorities and from the other sides who are cited."

We need to take the coverage of police operations, its agents and methods, off of auto-pilot. These actions have a clear public interest. It is up to the press to question both those being investigated and the investigators themselves. Readers are questioning how we can deal with the operations in a way that examines them for possible inconsistencies, arbitrariness, and political motivations. This, beyond evaluating as to whether or not they should be published.

What instruments do journalists need for doing this?

In a country with an ingrained culture of corruption, the principle of innocence until proven guilty is often ignored. The press can't just go along with the mood that dominates a significant portion of Brazilian society that everyone is corrupt, until they can prove that they aren't.

The time has arrived for newspapers and journalists to deepen their discussions and review the procedures that they use in publishing news about investigations from the Prosecutor General's Office and police institutions.

The press needs to prepare itself to not simply be a conduit for information provided, sometimes in an incomplete or manipulated fashion, by prosecutors and police agents. It needs to carry out its own investigations and to provide a critical, non-biased narrative based on facts.

What role do journalists and newspapers want to play in a world that is increasingly radicalized, with summary condemnations? I propose that readers and journalists seek out and debate the answers in an attempt to reflect upon the gravity of the moment that the country is passing through.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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