The Correio Braziliense: More pro-government than Pravda in the bad old days? Tongues are wagging.
Bribery of journalists.
The issue came to a head last in the Brazilian federal police operation known as Satiagraha, which — according to an index of the contents of the case file published by te press – included an appendix on the alleged cooption of members of the working press by banker Daniel Dantas, the focus of the money laundering, tax fraud, bribery and corruption case.
But that document has never been made public; the case file is locked away and the case itself — including the ten-year sentence handed down to Dantas for bribery of a federal officer — suspended until March.
The political scandal of the hour, however — the governor of the federal district was arrested yesterday] to prevent him from tampering with evidence and witnesses and has been denied a writ of habeas corpus by the Supreme Court, mirabile dictu — may provide more grist for the mill.
Preliminary reports said that among the videos not yet made public, depicting Arruda and associates receiving and distributing kickback money, is a video depicting a payoff to a newspaper owner, possibly in return for favorable coverage or some other chore. No confirmation on that yet, though.
Mercopress has a succinct, no-nonsense summary of the Arruda affair if you are missing the back story on this.
We begin with a “journalist” — actually a public relations professional — working as a civil servant for the federal legislature and volunteering on the side, he says, as a political consultant to then-candidate Arruda.
(In the U.S., (5 U.S.C. § 7323), civil servants can work on campaigns and raise funds as long as they do not use their “use their official authority” to “interfere with or influence the outcome” of the election, and only so long as the funds are raised for PACs run by federal employee unions. More or less.)
There is a cultural element here that needs explaining in order to understand this scenario properly.
In Brazil, “hacks” (journalists) are “flacks” (PR professionsals) — and too often vice versa. Or even both neither and nor and both and neither.
(The term propaganda is likewise used to translate English “advertising” and has few if any negative connotations.)
Both professions require the exact same education and certification, are represented by the same (pelêgo) union, FENAJ, and are expected to follow the same code of ethics (with a few papal indulgences for PR professionals).
The PT-Br term jornalista covers both hacks and flacks.
Eugenio Bucci, USP professor and former head of the official federal news service, is a lone voice calling for separate codes of ethics and training for the two trades or professions (my college — “founded on the Oxford model” — considered journalism a trade that can be picked up by any literate person through apprenticeship, and excluded it from the curriculum).
O jornalista Ademir Malavazi, convidado pelo governador José Roberto Arruda (sem partido-DF) para assumir a Secretaria de Comunicação Social, teria recebido R$ 185 mil de uma empresa suspeita de financiar o mensalão do DEM em Brasília. A denúncia consta nas planilhas anexadas ao Inquérito da “Operação Caixa de Pandora”.
Journalist Ademir Malavazi, invited by Governor José Roberto Arruda (ex-DEM/PFL) to be his Secretary of Social Communication, allegedly received R$185,000 from a company suspected of financing the kickback scheme allegedly mounted by the DEM government of the federal district. The accusation is included in a spreadsheet attached to the police report in Operation Pandora’s Box.
Source: Agência Brasil, via Portal IMPRENSA.
Os documentos indicam que Malavazi foi um dos colaboradores na campanha de Arruda pagos com verba desviada do contrato da Linknet com a Companhia de Planejamento do DF (Codeplan). O jornalista alega que Arruda é seu amigo e que trabalhou de graça para ajudá-lo.
The documents indicate that Malavazi was one of the Arruda campaign aides paid off with public money skimmed from Linknet’s contract with CODEPLAN, the Federal District planning corporation. The journalist claims that Arruda is his friend and that he worked for free in order to help him.
Em depoimento à Polícia Federal, o ex-chefe de Relações Institucionais do DF, Durval Barbosa acusou Arruda de se beneficiar de verba desviada de contrato com a Linknet para pagar as contas de seu escritório entre os anos de 2003 e 2006.
In a statement to federal police, the former head of institutional relations for the district government, Durval Barbosa, accused Arruda of benefiting from money skimmed from the Linknet to pay his administrative expenses between 2003 and 2006.
Um dos colaboradores da campanha, Malavazi, teria recebido salário mensal de R$ 5 mil durante 37 meses. Segundo Barbosa, os salários de cinco jornalistas foram pagos com dinheiro do contrato com a Codeplan.
A campaign aide to Arruda, Malavazi allegedly got R$5,000 a month for 37 months. According to Barbosa, money from the CODEPLAN contract paid the salaries of five journalists.
Servidor concursado na Câmara dos Deputados desde 1998, Malavazi disse ter trabalhado no gabinete de Arruda na década de 90, mas negou ter recebido dinheiro para atuar na campanha para governador do Distrito Federal.
Employed as a member of the permanent staff of the federal Chamber of Deputies since 1998, Malavazi said he worked in Arruda’s office in the 1990s, but denied receiving money for working on Arruda’s campaign for governor.
O jornalista ainda acusa Barbosa de montar planilhas falsas par incriminar o governador. “Sou amigo de Arruda há muitos anos. Na campanha, eu continuei a trabalhar na Câmara e o ajudei nas horas vagas, sem receber salário. Nunca recebi dinheiro desse cara (Barbosa). Se ele está dizendo isso, é mentira. Arruda é uma pessoa preparada, tenho razões para acreditar nele”, disse.
The journalist also accused Barbosa of ginning up phony spreadsheets in order to incriminate the governor. “I have been a friend of Arruda’s for many years. During the campaign, I continued working for the district legislature, helping out during my off hours, without receiving a salary. I never got any money from this guy (Barbosa). If he says I did, he’s a liar. Arruda is a competent person, I have reasons for continuing to believe in him,” he said.
Malavazi confirmou que recebeu o convite para assumir a Secretaria de Comunicação, mas declarou que a nomeação depende ainda de seu pedido de afastamento da Câmara. A informação é do jornal O Globo.
Malavazi confirmed receiving the invitation to serve as Secretary of Social Communications, but stated that his nomination still depends on his request for a leave of absence from the legislature. The information is from O Globo.
Naming the Names
Ucho.info reports that at least five journalists were allegedly suborned in high style by Arruda, including a journalist, former editor of a competing paper, who is married to the current editor in chief of the Correio Braziliense.
(Just what sort of Hobbesian brutality comprises “competition” between the two papers I will save for a later note.)
Names are named, which is useful.
O inquérito da Operação Caixa de Pandora, da Polícia Federal, que flagrou um esquema criminoso de cobrança e pagamento de propinas comandado por José Roberto Arruda, governador do Distrito Federal, revelou como setores da imprensa trocam o bom jornalismo por alguns imundos tostões. De acordo com o relatório da PF, alguns jornalistas integraram um grupo que foi batizado como “inteligência de campanha”.
The investigation in the federal police operation Pandora’s Box, which captured in the act a criminal conspiracy for the reception and payment of bribes, led by federal district governor Arruda, has revealed how sectors of the press have sold out decent journalism for a few filthy pennies. According to the federal police report, several journalists were part of group known as the “campaign intelligence” team.
Dele participavam “Ademir Malavazi (jornalista lotado no Congresso Nacional), Mônica Torres Maia (jornalista e ex-esposa do jornalista Carlos Honorato), Omézio Pontes, Paulo Pestana (ex-assessor do deputado distrital Fábio Barcellos), Silvio Guedes (jornalista e casado com a editora-chefe do Correio Braziliense Ana Dubeaux)”.
The campaign intelligence team included Ademir Malavazi, a journalist employed as a civil servant for the federal congress, Mônica Torres Maia, journalist and ex-wife of journalist Carlos Honorato; Omézio Pontes; Paulo Pestana (a former aide to district lawmaker Fábio Barcellos); and Silvio Guedes (journalist and husband of the editor in chief of the Correio Braziliense, Ana Dubeaux.)
I will try to pull together some background on these fine professionals.
Are any of them mentioned in Mario Sergio Conti’s riotous and self-serving journalistic memoir Notícias do Planalto, I wonder?
(Conti is a former editor of Veja magazine and the Jornal do Brasil, owned by Nelson Tanure. He currently edits the New Yorker clone for Sambodians, Piauí. Suffering from a Tina Brown fixation, it pretty much stinks.)
O mesmo documento traz a seguinte informação: “Que essas últimas pessoas, chamadas de “inteligência de campanha” eram pagas por meio do contrato da Codeplan com a Linknet, sendo que os três últimos recebiam R$ 10 mil reais mensais e os dois primeiros recebiam, respectivamente, R$ 5 mil e R$ 6 mil reais mensais.
The same document discloses the following information: “These persons, known as the ‘campaign intelligence team,’ were paid with money from a CODEPLAN contract with Linknet; the latter three received R$10,000 a month and the first two received, respectively, R$5,000 and R$6,000 a month.”
Que as cinco pessoas permaneceram contratadas durante os 03 (três), de dezembro de 2003 a dezembro de 2006, sendo que a partir de junho de 2005 passou a ser despendido mais R$ 40 mil reais mensais para os chamados jornais alternativos”.
These five persons were employed [by Arruda] from December 2003 to December 2006. Starting in June 2005, more than R$40,000 a month began to spent on the so-called “alternative press.”
Names of publications?
Atualmente, o Congresso Nacional discute a retomada da exigência do diploma universitário para o exercício do jornalismo, mesmo depois de o Supremo Tribunal Federal ter decidido contrariamente.
The federal congress is currently debating whether to reinstate the requirement of a diploma from a four-year college journalism course in order to practice the trade, even after the Supreme Court decided against the requirement.
Desde que o assunto entrou em discussão, há anos, a desculpa apresentada pelos pelegos dos sindicatos ligados à classe é que os jornalistas não diplomados desconhecem o que é ética. Provavelmente, esses jornalistas flagrados pela Polícia Federal têm diploma.
Since the debate arose, years ago, the pretext employed by the management-controlled journalist unions is that journalists lacking a diploma are not aware of what ethics is. Most likely, these journalists accused by the federal police have such a diploma, however.
Fortunately, more or less, the law allows foreigners without these credentials to be recognized as professionals by the standards of their home nation.
The bureaucracy for registering to ply the trade for a foreign national is staggering, however. The jeitinho is the rule rather than the exception.
E os sindicatos e entidades correlatas simplesmente silenciam diante de uma barbaridade dessa natureza. A eles [sindicatos e entidades representativas] só interessa o pagamento das contribuições anuais, dinheiro que por certo alimenta um cabide de empregos descomunal. Ética não se aprende no banco de escola, mas dentro de casa.
And the journalists’ unions and related organizations are simply clamming up in the face of this barbaric behavior. The only thing that the unions and professional associations care about is raking in the annual dues, money that undoubtedly funds a whole lot of patronage jobs. Ethics is not something you learn in a classroom. You learn it at home.
Correio Braziliense: Tabula Rasa to the Maximundo?
Now to do some digging in the morgues to see if I can dig up some of fine work of these world-class press professionals.
On the reporter married to the editor in chief of the bought-and-sold Correio Braziliense, the Observatório da Imprensa had this to say on February 8:
Se em uma semana tudo foi criado e até descanso foi contemplado, uma semana não foi tempo suficiente para que o principal jornal de Brasília (o mais influente e renomado por sua detalhada cobertura política) conseguisse tratar do caso que, desde seu início, em 28 de novembro de 2009, recebeu ampla cobertura dos grandes jornais brasileiros, no eixo Rio-São Paulo e até mesmo no exterior.
If a week was all it took for God to make the world, … seven days have not been long enough for the Correio Braziliense, the district’s leading paper — its most influential and renowned for its crime coverage — to cover a case that since its beginning, on November 28 of last year, has been widely covered by the major Brazilian papers of the Rio-S. Paulo axis and even by the foreign press.
This windy tirade is by way of accusing the Correio of being chapa branca — bought and paid for, e.g., with favoritism in the distribution of exorbitant government advertising budgets.
But this was a striking fact.
Shock troops viciously assaulting pro-impeachment protesters in the streets and the top headline in the leading local paper is what?
The next meeting of the Central Bank interest rate committee or a study showing improvements to school lunches.
The only comparable act of flagrant toadyism that comes to mind was when Globo’s Jornal Nacional nightly newscast blew off covering a major air disaster, with hundreds dead, to concentrate on a manufactured tempest-in-a-tea-pot scandal on election eve. Ecce Globo.
Who Loves the Governor More? Notes from the Brasília Media Market
Finally, a line item from the resumé of named named Silvio — or Sylvio — Guedes, from Jornal Opção (undated, but dating from the administration of Arruda’s predecessor and would-be successor) follows.
The gist, as this think as you type post is running long: I guess the main takeaway is that several of the names involved in alleged under-the-table jabaculê – Patrana, Honorato, and Guedes, were senior editors of a paper that once toed the party line for Arruda’s predecessor and political rival, the also corruption-indicted Joaquim Roriz.
And now they show up flacking for Arruda, as has the Correio Braziliense – which did manage to publish one coherent analysis of the situation that I read: The Arruda kickback machine is exactly the same kickback machine run by Roriz.
Exact same car, different driver. Just like you rent from Hertz at the airport.
The point was to hit back at and divert the focus onto the political rival, obviously, but it fit the facts, at least.
O armistício entre o governador do Distrito Federal, Joaquim Roriz, e o Correio Braziliense — que anuncia lucro de 10 milhões de reais e bônus para seus profissionais (um salário a mais) — não foi positivo para o Jornal de Brasília.
The armistice between the federal district governor, Roriz, and the Correio Braziliense — which announced profits of R$ 10 million and bonuses for its staff (an extra monthly salary) — was not good news for the Jornal de Brasília.
Com a crise entre Roriz e o Correio, o JBr — vendido pela família de Júnior Câmara para um grupo de empresários, entre eles Fernando Câmara (aliado de Roriz no negócio) — assumiu a defesa do governador do DF e, por isso, voltou a crescer. Mesmo governista, sob o comando dos editores Paulo Pestana e Sylvio Guedes, o jornal era bem-feito e não havia apenas reportagens para elogiar Roriz.
With the crisis between Roriz and the Correio, the JBr — sold off by the Júnior Cámara family to a group of investors included Fernando Cámara (an ally of Roriz in the deal) — took up the defense of the district government and for that reason saw its circulation pick up again. Even as a pro-government paper, under the command of Paulo Pestana and Sylvio Guedes, it was a quality paper and not just full of articles praising Roriz.
Com a paz entre o campeão de circulação, o Correio, e Roriz, o JBr perdeu espaço e importância. O próprio governador do DF não demonstra mais o mesmo interesse pelo jornal. Os executivos do jornal podem até repetir o grupo de rock: “A gente somos inútil”. Há outros problemas.
But once the ceasefire broke out between the government and the circulation leader, the Correio, the JBr lost market share and influence. The governor himself no longer shows much interest in the paper. Executives at the JBr might as well join in the chorus of the famous rock song: “Useless! We are useless!”
Ultraje a Rigor. Great song.
Há uma luta interna entre os sócios do jornal: Lourenço Rommel Ponte Peixoto e Fernando Câmara. Este, ligado a Roriz, pretende manter uma linha editorial governista, atrelada ao governador (o mercado brasiliense especula que Fernando Câmara é testa-de-ferro de Roriz, mas não há nenhuma prova de que isto seja verdade).
There is an internal power struggle going on among the two partners: : Lourenço Rommel Ponte Peixoto and Fernando Câmara. The latter, with ties to Roriz, wants to maintain a pro-government editorial line, focused on the governor (the local market buzz is that Câmara is a front man for Roriz’s ownership interest in the paper, but there is no evidence this is true.)
Lourenço Rommel não é nenhum radical, mas se propõe a fazer um jornalismo, ainda que dependente do governo do DF, menos subserviente. Para tanto, tentou manter o diretor de redação, Paulo Pestana, no comando do jornal. Pestana acabou fritado por Fernando Câmara, que, noutras ocasiões, mesmo sob pressão de Roriz, protegeu o editor. Junto com Pestana, caiu o editor-chefe, Sylvio Guedes.
Rommel is no radical, but he is bent on introducing a less subservient style of journalism, though still dependent on the district government. To that end, he tried to keep Paulo Pestana on as publisher. Pestana however, wound up getting fried by Câmara, who on other occasions, even under pressure from Roriz, had protected his publisher. Editor in chief Sylvio Guedes bit the dust along with Pestana.
Pestana e Guedes caíram porque, com o Correio de novo governista, de repente o JBr, mesmo com escassa massa crítica em relação ao governo de Roriz, quase se tornou um jornal de “oposição”. Então, sob pressão, Fernando Câmara, o homem de Roriz no jornal, decidiu tornar o JBr tão governista quanto o Correio. Em Brasília, os dois jornais agora vão disputar qual “ama” mais Roriz. Guedes voltou para o Senado.
Pestana and Guedes got the axe because once the Correio returned to a pro-government line, the JBr, even though it scarcely criticized the Roriz administration, came to be regarded almost as the “opposition” paper. Under pressure, therefore, Cẫmara, Roriz’s man at the paper, decided to make the JBr as pro-government as the Correio is. The two papers now battle over who loves Roriz the most. Guedes went back to working for the federal Senate.
Com a extinção do cargo de diretor de redação, a direção do jornal ficará a cargo do editor-chefe, agora Carlos Honorato. Jornalista competente, com passagem pelo Diário da Manhã, na época de Washington Novaes, Carlos Honorato tem ligações profundas com o governador Joaquim Roriz.
With the publisher’s role eliminated, control of the paper was turned over to the editor in chief, currently Carlos Honorato. A competent journalist who worked at the Diário da Manhã under Washington Novaes, Honorato has deep ties to Roriz.
A ligação com Roriz não significa que Carlos Honorato não seja um jornalista sério e capaz. Terá pela frente um desafio: fazer um bom jornal, mas governista. Não é tarefa impossível. O jornal O Globo é conservador, mas é muito bem-feito e já supera em termos de conteúdo, durante alguns dias da semana, Folha de S. Paulo e Estadão.
This tie to Roriz does not mean that Honorato is not a serious, capable journalist. He faces a challenge: To turn out a paper that is both good and pro-government. This is not an impossibe task. O Globo, for example, is conservative, but it is extremely well-done and on some days even surpasses the Folha de S. Paulo and Estado de S. Paulo.
O Globo has its moments, and then it has its moments. Same for the Estadão.
The Folha less so. Tripe content far exceeds USDA standards.
Filed under: Brazil
