TV Cultura Ombudsman on Roda Viva: Chaer and Azevedo Stunk Up The Show

Reinaldo Azevedo and Márcio Chaer, in their attempt to misuse the program as a personal platform in the face of such delicate issues and such a controversial interviewee, conspired against the journalistic quality and balance of this edition of Roda Viva. The program’s directors should reflect on their criteria for selecting interviewers in the future.

The Ombudsman of TV Cultura (São Paulo) has been kept busy by the controversial episode of the public station’s venerable interview show, Roda Viva, this week with Supreme Court Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes.

See also

• Veja’s Designated Blogger: The Chief Justice And I (And Especially I) Were Superb on Roda Viva!
• The Apostheosis of Gilmar Mendes: Nassif, In Disbelief

In a recent post, Ernesto Rodrigues, the station’s ombusdman, defends the overall journalistic quality of the program, but laments the choice of Reinaldo Azevedo (Veja) and Márcio Chaer (Consultor Jurídico) as part of the interview panel.

Laments in rather emphatic terms.

These franks criticisms reportedly touched off a barrage of thuggish responses from Azevedo supporters, who function very much like Rush Limbaugh or Matt Drudge “dittoheads” — the style of “journalism” Azevedo practices, which you can think of as essentially Lusophone Limbaugh.

On which more later. The debate is not complete without a few choice quotes from Azevedo’s droogies, with social graces straight out of Clockwork Orange.

“O senhor se indispôs com delegados, Polícia Federal, Ministério da Justiça, Ministério Público, juízes e associações de juízes. Todos eles são contra o estado de direito? O que aconteceu?”

“You have been involved in quarrels with police investigators, the federal police, the Ministry of Justice, the Public Ministry, judges and professional associations representing judges. Are all of these enemies of the democratic rule of law? What happened?”

Esta pergunta simples e reveladora, feita pela jornalista Eliane Cantanhêde, resume a importância e o interesse despertado pelo Roda Viva com o presidente do STF, Gilmar Mendes, quaisquer que fossem, antes, ou sejam, depois, as opiniões dos telespectadores sobre o magistrado. A pergunta de Eliane também é emblemática de um programa que, nem sempre com a ajuda de parte dos entrevistadores, diga-se, abordou todas as polêmicas conhecidas e em pauta sobre as decisões e idéias do presidente da principal corte de justiça do país.

This simple and revealing question, posed by journalist Eliane Cantanhêde, sums up the importance and the interest awakened by Roda Viva‘s interview with Chief Justice Gilmar Mendes, jurist. Eliane’s question is also emblematic of a program that, though not always with help of all its interviewers, let it be said, touched upon all the well-known and current controversies regarding the decisions and ideas of the chief justice of the highest court in the land.

A âncora Lillian Witte Fibe, cumprindo de forma competente a função de garantir que todos esses assuntos fossem abordados, abriu com duas perguntas que muitos gostariam de fazer: onde está o áudio do suposto grampo da conversa de Gilmar Mendes com o senador Demóstenes Torres e qual a responsabilidade do STF pelo vazamento de um ofício reservado do tribunal à revista Veja?

Program anchor Lillian Witte Fibe, competently assuming her role of making sure that all these matters were touched on, opened with two questions that many would like to ask: Where is the audio of the alleged wiretap of a conversation between the Chief Justice and Sen. Torres, and what role did the Supreme Court play, if any, in the leaking of an official court report to Veja magazine?

On the latter issue, see also

• Dantas’ Inferno: Did Daniel Have a Man in Supreme Court Security?
• Dantas’ Inferno and Veja’s Source: Fortes on the Chief Justice’s Private Spy Shop