27/04/2006

Folha to celebrate 85th anniversary holding debates in São Paulo

Folha de S.Paulo

In celebration of its 85th anniversary, Folha de S.Paulo is organizing the Folha Forum of Journalism, which will take place on May 10-11 2006 and will include four debates with international media specialists. The forum follows the 26th yearly Conference of ONO (the Organization of News Ombudsmen), to be held in São Paulo from May 7-10. The aim of the forum is to stimulate the discussion of problems related to journalism and the political and social aspects involved in it.

The first debate within the Folha Forum, "Journalistic transparency and quality", to take place on May 10 at 3.00 p.m., will bring together Folha’s ombudsman, Marcelo Beraba, as the mediator, the president of ONO, Ian Mayes, as well as Germán Rey, former ombudsman of the Colombian newspaper "El Tiempo", and Edward Wasserman, professor of journalism ethics at Washington and Lee University.

The second debate, to begin at 6.00 p.m., is "Power and Journalism in Latin America", mediated by Folha columnist Eliane Cantanhêde and bringing together the Peruvian writer Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Andres Oppenheimer, "Miami Herald" columnist, and Boris Muñoz, op-ed writer of the Venezuelan daily "El Nacional".

The round table on the subject of "Journalism and democracy" will take place on the 11th, at 10 a.m., and will be chaired by Renata Lo Prete, editor of Folha’s Painel section. The participants include Jaime Abello Banfi, director of the New Iberian-American Journalism Foundation, Jennifer Moyers, operations chief of "The Washington Post’s" online edition, and Julio Blanck, editor in chief of the Argentinian daily "Clarín".

The last debate, on May 11 at 2.00 p.m., is entitled "The limits of reporting" and will bring together Maria Teresa Ronderos, of the Foundation for Freedom of the Press, Ricardo Uceda, executive director of the Peruvian Press and Society Institute, and Robert Fisk, reporter for the British "The Independent" newspaper. The debate will be chaired by Folha reporter and columnist Fernando Rodrigues.

Enrollments in the forum can be done from Monday to Friday, from 11-12.30 a.m. and 2-6p.m., phone number 0/ xx/11/ 3224-3473, or by e-mail to eventofolha@folhasp.com.br. The forum will be free of charge and open to the public, and will take place at Fecomércio (Federa­ção do Comércio do Estado de São Paulo), Rua Dr. Plínio Bar­reto, 285, in the center of São Paulo.