Folha de S.Paulo

"Brazilian Chamber approves land demarcation timeframe law in a new setback for Lula's government", wrote Folha on Tuesday night (30). The headline on the printed issue the next morning was similarly worded. By reading the newspaper, the defeat of the federal government, the political fact, was more important than the socio-environmental setback promoted by the deputies. The reduction of what happened to a political fact was exactly what was intended by the parliamentarians, who transferred the discussion from the technical field to the ideological one. A good part of the press, not just Folha, fell into this kind of focus trap.

Published on 06/09/2023 - 12h25

For those who are used to this newspaper taking shots at the current government, the first Folha editorial, on Monday (22), was a surprise. In "The Amazon and the Heat", this newspaper wrote that "it makes no sense to open fossil fuel extraction fronts" and that the country "does not need to hit the brakes on its own development to mitigate the climate crisis, just redirect it". Ibama's decision to reject oil extraction at the mouth of the Amazon "indicates that a switch has been turned". Lula 3 has finally scored one, it's what the reader can conclude from the reading. The curious thing was to see the rest of the country shouting the opposite, during the course of the week, including the high ranks of the PT (Workers' Party) government.

Published on 05/31/2023 - 15h02

One of the most curious headlines published by Folha in recent days is from Folhinha ( the newspaper supplement focused on kids): "Section 'An adult answers' excuses itself in order to help a 50-year-old reader looking for information that not even Google has." The information, which Google now has through the newspaper, is "What is the name of the ball on the Brazilian flag". The section, as the title reveals, is dedicated to answering questions sent by children. In an era when search engines are starting to write their own entries, thanks to artificial intelligence (and the opportunism of manipulating the country's legislative debate), it sounds like a contradiction, but it is not.

Published on 05/25/2023 - 13h27

Friends on WhatsApp groups exchanged songs and posts about Rita Lee shortly after her death was reported by the press on Tuesday morning (9). Among many good memories, there was the link to an advertisement for jeans dated 1978 on YouTube. Anyone who was a child or teenager in the late 1970s certainly remembers this unpretentiously erotic commercial, but which, in modern eyes, would make a good part of the current Congress squirm on social networks and the government of Acre cut down the TV signal: couples kissing, "wearing costumes" and, literally, "taking off their clothes".

Published on 05/19/2023 - 14h35

Google's colorful offices in São Paulo are located on Faria Lima, an avenue that is a symbol of the country's financial universe and needs no introduction. If it is easy to imagine the stereotype of a Farialimer and its social and political pretensions, the technology giant does not seem to fit right into the region's design. The gang struggles on bicycles and scooters in an attempt to emulate Silicon Valley, but the cycle lane eventually ends. On the edge of this flat land, the heart-stroked megalopolis remains.

Published on 05/10/2023 - 16h06

In a heavy week for the Lula government, the beginning of a billionaire trial against Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch, the most watched cable channel in the US and spearhead of the moderate, extreme, local and worldwide right wings almost went by unnoticed.

Published on 04/28/2023 - 14h16

"I don't have a Facebook page. I don't use my Twitter account. I'm familiar with both, but I don't use them." In July 2010, in an article in the Sunday Observer, an Elon Musk very different from the current one was presented as a kind of dreamer who, up to that point, had managed to turn almost all of his plans into reality, including building his own rocket. His Tesla was described as an exotic luxury sports car in the Space-X parking lot, and the businessman was painted as a source of inspiration for the playboy scientist character Tony Stark, from Marvel's "Iron Man" franchise.

Published on 04/25/2023 - 13h14

"60 Minutes" is an institution of American journalism, on the air for over half a century. Last weekend, however, the CBS program was immolated on social media before it even started. A callout from the network on Twitter featured the episode's attraction, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Republican congresswoman from the state of Georgia, a supporter of former President Donald Trump and who promotes absurd QAnon conspiracy theories.

Published on 04/14/2023 - 13h16

Tuesday (28), "13-year-old student stabs teacher to death in SP". Wednesday (29), "Covid kills 700 thousand and victimizes the more vulnerable groups". It's not every week that two headlines in a row from Folha use the same verb. If only the problem was the lack of creativity on the First Page.

Published on 04/10/2023 - 13h48