Folha de S. Paulo
Encyclopedia
Folha de S. Paulo, known simply as Folha (ˈfoʎɐ, Sheet), is a Brazil
ian daily newspaper founded and continuously published in São Paulo
since 19 February 1921. Owned by the Frias de Oliveira
family since 1962, it has Brazil's largest circulation since 1986. Alongside O Globo
and O Estado de S. Paulo
, Folha is considered one of the most influential newspapers in the country.
The newspaper is considered to have played a major role during the military dictatorship. With the return of press freedom
, it became an important channel for public expression. Folha also had an important role during the impeachment of President Fernando Collor de Mello
in 1992. It has a partnership with Wikileaks
to publish the United States diplomatic cables
in the country, alongside O Globo.
Nevertheless, Folhas circulation has been on a sharp decline since the past decade. In December 1998, it led the circulation of Brazilian newspapers with an estimated 513,000 copies printed daily. Ten years later, its circulation was estimated at 299,000 copies, which represents a decrease of 41%, although it stills leads the newspaper market, which has been facing a decline as a whole.
and Carlos Caldeira Filho. On 1925, a morning edition (Folha da Manhã) was released, while an afternoon edition (Folha da Tarde) came in 24 years later. These three separate editions, finally merged in 1960, giving birth to Folha de S. Paulo.
In 1930 it supported presidential candidate Júlio Prestes
, therefore being pillaged and closed on 24 October 1930, when the 1930 Revolution
triumphed. At that time, Folha de S. Paulo had on its staff the famous cartoonist Lelis Viana, popularly known as Juca Pato (Juca the Duck), a figure which always criticized the Liberal Alliance of Getúlio Vargas
. The newspaper resumed operations in 1931 with new owners and a new editorial line toward the support of agriculture.
Unlike its main rival, O Estado de S. Paulo
, which was even censored and intervened, Folha de S. Paulo initially supported the 1964 coup d'état against João Goulart
and the military regime that followed until the government of Ernesto Geisel
. In the early 1970s, this stance has led to a series of attacks against vehicles delivering Folha de S. Paulo, which were burned down by leftist resistance groups. According to Elio Gaspari
, currently a columnist for Folha de S. Paulo, "cars of the company were borrowed to the DOI
, which used them as coverage to transport prisoners".
The rising of a renewed and engaged writing team, featuring prominent names such as Cláudio Abramo
, Boris Casoy
, Clóvis Rossi, and Jânio de Freitas, led a change in the editorial line of the newspaper, which in the 1980s was marked by immediate support to the Diretas Já
movement. In the late 1980s, the newspaper was a pioneer in Brazil in the installation of computers in its newsroom. Later the newspaper dared to hire an ombudsman, something quite unusual for a major Brazilian newspaper then. It was so groundbreaking for its time that led to many clashes between then ombudsman Caio Tulio Costa, and Paulo Francis
, which eventually moved to rival O Estado de S. Paulo. Since the 1980s, Folha de S. Paulo was also an early adopter of graphics and tables that explain, in a didactic manner, the details of breaking news and the context of the same.
In early 1990s, the newspaper began to invest in developing new products and supplements, such as Revista da Folha (Folha Magazine), Folhateen, and TV Folha. Marketed by a major advertising campaign, in which staff director Matins Suzuki Jr. himself announced the new features of the newspapers, Folha de S. Paulo went on to lead sales in São Paulo, surpassing O Estado de S. Paulo. A graphical reform in the mid-1990s and the launch of gifts such as the Atlas Folha and dictionaries strengthened the newspaper's leadership. In October 1996, a Sunday edition of Folha de S. Paulo sold as much as 489,000 copies in newsstands alone.
However, over a decade later, the scenario is quite adverse for the newspaper. Data from the Checked Circulation Institute (Instituto Verificador de Circulação – IVC) shows that Folha de S. Paulo ended the first trimester of 2009 selling a daily average of 298,351 copies, while in early 2000, that average was of 429,476 copies, which represents a decline of almost 50% in sales, although it remains the best-selling newspaper in the country.
became second only to the Organizações Globo
media conglomerate in Brazil. Eventually the empire was passed on to Frias' children, Luiz and Otavio, which became president and editor of the newspaper, respectively. Today, the newspaper has an online edition, titled FolhaOnline, hosted on Latin America's largest Internet Service Provider, Universo Online
, which is also part of the Folha conglomerate.
of 250,000 reais
(around 145,000 U.S. dollars) to a lawyer for publishing a picture of him to illustrate a news story about a gay village in São Paulo, which could lead to the interpretation that he was gay. According to the plaintiff's defense, the picture was taken secretly when he was hugging a male friend. The photographer eliminated their wives from the photograph.
In March 2010, journalist Eliane Cantanhêde and Folha were ordered to pay 35,000 reais (around 20,500 U.S. dollars) to the judge Luiz Roberto Ayub as a compensation for moral damages. According to an article published by Cantanhêde, the judge "abandoned his 'false morality' and went on to contradict the law" in order to please the federal government. Judge André Pinto, who heard the case, understood her statement as an allegation of misconduct and bias.
In April 2010, the newspaper was ordered to pay a compensation of 50,000 reais (around 29,300 U.S. dollars) to blogger Luis Favre
, former husband of Marta Suplicy
. Folha had published, in 2001, an advertisement authored by journalist Claudio Humberto, in which Favre was defined as a "kind of left-wing swindler, a Trotskyist with unsurpassed mental confusion and God's teacher, of the 'know it all' type. With the talk of an encyclopedia salesman and ingratiating as a tango dancer, he is everything that the good Senator Suplicy
is not: a 'dog'".
In June 2010, the newspaper was ordered to pay a compensation of 18,000 reais (around 10,500 U.S. dollars) to a woman cited in an article by journalist Elio Gaspari
as a participant in a bomb attack against the U.S. consulate in São Paulo, which occurred in March 1968. Although the woman did belong to the guerrilla group Vanguarda Popular Revolucionária (Revolutionary Popular Vanguard), she was out of the country at the time in which the incident took place. Judge Fausto Martin José Seabra, in his ruling, said that the newspaper had "abused its right to inform, attacking the honor and the image of the plaintiff by attributing to her the commission of a crime".
administration in Venezuela
referred to the earlier Brazilian military dictatorship as a "ditabranda
" ("soft dictatorship"). Reactions to the usage of the term, with its implication that the dictatorship had not been harsh, were almost immediate.
Aside from the newspaper's readership, the first people to condemn the usage of the term were University of São Paulo
professors Maria Victória Benevides and Fábio Konder Comparato. Folha answered that it "respects the opinion of readers that disagree with the usage of the term in the editorial to refer to the Brazilian military regime". However, it tried to dismiss the letters sent by Benevides and Comparto, claiming that they "have not yet expressed their repudiation of left-wing dictatorships, such as the one still in power in Cuba
". According to Folha de S. Paulo, the professors' indignation was "cynical and deceitful".
The newspaper was heavily criticized on the internet and by other media outlets, such as small left-wing magazines Fórum, Caros Amigos
(which published a cover story on the usage of the term), and Carta Capital. None of these critiques, however, had as much visibility as a news story titled "The ditabranda scandal" run by Rede Record
on its Domingo Espetacular Sunday newsmagazine. It accused the Grupo Folha of maintaining liaisons with the former dictatorship's repressive bodies. Folha de S. Paulo rejected the accusations, which made Record run the story once again in its flagship newsprogram Jornal da Record and post it on its official YouTube channel.
of Dilma Rousseff
, at that time Chief of Staff of Brazil
. The file classified her as a "terrorist" and "bank robber
". The image of the file was placed near a story about an alleged 1968 plan of Rousseff's guerrilla group, the Vanguarda Armada Revolucionária Palmares
, to kidnap Antônio Delfim Netto, who had been the Finance Minister of the military regime. Rousseff questioned the authenticity of the file, stating that it was "not in any of the archives that we have checked so far" and that it was a recent and manipulated artifact. The controversy regarding the file led Folha to admit that not only had the file not been obtained from the archives of DOPS, the political police of the military dictatorship – in contrast to what had been previously stated – but also that the file's authenticity could not be confirmed. The newspaper also stated that the image was received via e-mail. The file can be found on several far right-wing websites supportive of the dictatorship.
member César Benjamin accusing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
of having told Benjamin, during a meeting for Lula's 1994 presidential campaign, that Lula had attempted to rape
another inmate while he was being held as a political prisoner in São Paulo. According to filmmaker Sílvio Tendler, who was at the meeting, Lula's account was merely a joke. Advertiser Paulo de Tarso Santos, also present at the meeting, stated that he does not remember such talk ever taking place. The accusation was also denied by José Maria de Almeida
, who had been incarcerated alongside Lula in 1980. He declared to "have reasons to attack Lula. His government is a tragedy for the working class. But what was written never happened". The allegedly raped inmate later declared to Veja
that he would not speak to the press, and that "whoever made the accusation should prove it". Folha was criticized by media analysts, notably Alberto Dines
, for publishing the article without checking its factuality first.
(owned by Grupo Pão de Açúcar, one of the sponsors of the Brazil national football team
), which read: "A I qembu le sizwe sai do Mundial. Não do coração da gente" (The I qembu le sizwe leaves the Cup. But not our hearts). The ad suggested Brazil was out of the World Cup, when it had actually defeated Chile
3-0 and advanced to the next stage. According to Folha, there was a mistake during the selection of the material to be published.
-related facts. The text was received with criticism by analysts. Folha was instead perceived to support the José Serra
candidacy. On September, Folhas ombudswoman
, Suzana Singer, harshly criticized the newspaper. She picked pieces of e-mails she had received from Folha readers mocking the paper's pretensions of impartiality. According to her, Folha was "dedicat[ing] itself to turn the life and work [of Ms. Rousseff] upside down" and report on the collected information in a partial manner. Brazilian Twitter users launched the hashtag "Dilma Facts by Folha" to satirize the way the newspaper covered Rousseff's presidential candidacy.
' s legal team closed down the website Falha de S. Paulo (Flaw of S. Paulo), which satirized what they perceived as the newspaper's biased news in favor of Serra. The measure was seen as a form of censorship by the independent media
and other bloggers, which launched the Censura eu, Folha (Censor me, Folha) campaign. Folha' s position was also poorly received by Reporters Without Borders
, which said the newspaper was incurring in a "new form of censorship".
According to Folhas legal team, they requested the injunction to defend the newspaper's trademark from misuse, because the similarity of names could cause "an explicit and intentional confusion" between the newspaper and the website among the readers of the latter. As a matter of fact, the judge which gave the injunction closing down the website said that his decision was not based "in the satire, which is not forbidden, but on the use of a logo very similar to the one used by the plaintiff". The Falha website currently displays messages of support by famous people, such as former Culture Minister Gilberto Gil
, to whom Folha should sue Caetano Veloso
, which created the term Falha de S. Paulo to refer to the newspaper.
The case was highlighted in the website of the American technology magazine Wired
. It was also commented by Julian Assange
, founder of Wikileaks
, during an interview to Folhas main competitor, O Estado de S. Paulo
, on 23 December 2010. "The blog is not intended to be the newspaper and I think it must be released", he said. The case was also highlighted by Andrew Downie in a Financial Times
blog. According to him, Folha' s response to Falha is "in keeping with its reputation as somewhat humorless", adding that the case has cost a damage "to its reputation as one of the progressive forces in Brazilian journalism".
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian daily newspaper founded and continuously published in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
since 19 February 1921. Owned by the Frias de Oliveira
Octávio Frias
Octavio Frias de Oliveira was a Brazilian executive who built Grupo Folha, one of Brazil's largest media empires.Frias was born in Rio de Janeiro, and the family moved to São Paulo in 1918...
family since 1962, it has Brazil's largest circulation since 1986. Alongside O Globo
O Globo
O Globo is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. O Globo is the most prominent print publication in the Marinho family's Brazilian media conglomerate....
and O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo is a daily newspaper published in the Metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil, and distributed mainly nationally. It is owned by Grupo Estado, a holding company which publishes the Jornal da Tarde and owns the radios Rádio Eldorado AM and FM and the Agência Estado, largest...
, Folha is considered one of the most influential newspapers in the country.
The newspaper is considered to have played a major role during the military dictatorship. With the return of press freedom
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
, it became an important channel for public expression. Folha also had an important role during the impeachment of President Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Collor de Mello
Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello was the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his trial of impeachment by the Brazilian Senate...
in 1992. It has a partnership with Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
to publish the United States diplomatic cables
United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began in February 2010 when WikiLeaks—a non-profit organization that publishes submissions from anonymous whistleblowers—began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates,...
in the country, alongside O Globo.
Nevertheless, Folhas circulation has been on a sharp decline since the past decade. In December 1998, it led the circulation of Brazilian newspapers with an estimated 513,000 copies printed daily. Ten years later, its circulation was estimated at 299,000 copies, which represents a decrease of 41%, although it stills leads the newspaper market, which has been facing a decline as a whole.
History
Founded on 19 February 1921 by Olival Costa and Pedro Cunha as Folha da Noite (Evening paper), Folha de S. Paulo was bought on 1962 by businessmen Octavio Frias de OliveiraOctávio Frias
Octavio Frias de Oliveira was a Brazilian executive who built Grupo Folha, one of Brazil's largest media empires.Frias was born in Rio de Janeiro, and the family moved to São Paulo in 1918...
and Carlos Caldeira Filho. On 1925, a morning edition (Folha da Manhã) was released, while an afternoon edition (Folha da Tarde) came in 24 years later. These three separate editions, finally merged in 1960, giving birth to Folha de S. Paulo.
In 1930 it supported presidential candidate Júlio Prestes
Júlio Prestes
Júlio Prestes de Albuquerque was a Brazilian politician. Governor of São Paulo state in 1926, he was elected president of Brazil on March 1, 1930, but never took office because the government was overthrown in the Revolution of 1930 that brought Getulio Vargas to power, three weeks before Prestes'...
, therefore being pillaged and closed on 24 October 1930, when the 1930 Revolution
Brazilian Revolution of 1930
The Revolution of 1930 was a movement that overthrew President Washington Luís and installed Getúlio Vargas as Provisional President.-See also:*Revolutions of Brazil*History of Brazil...
triumphed. At that time, Folha de S. Paulo had on its staff the famous cartoonist Lelis Viana, popularly known as Juca Pato (Juca the Duck), a figure which always criticized the Liberal Alliance of Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
. The newspaper resumed operations in 1931 with new owners and a new editorial line toward the support of agriculture.
Unlike its main rival, O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo is a daily newspaper published in the Metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil, and distributed mainly nationally. It is owned by Grupo Estado, a holding company which publishes the Jornal da Tarde and owns the radios Rádio Eldorado AM and FM and the Agência Estado, largest...
, which was even censored and intervened, Folha de S. Paulo initially supported the 1964 coup d'état against João Goulart
João Goulart
João Belchior Marques Goulart was a Brazilian politician and the 24th President of Brazil until a military coup d'état deposed him on April 1, 1964. He is considered to have been the last left-wing President of the country until Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2003.-Name:João Goulart is...
and the military regime that followed until the government of Ernesto Geisel
Ernesto Geisel
Ernesto Beckmann Geisel, was a Brazilian military leader and politician of German descent who was President of Brazil from 1974 to 1979.-Early life and family:...
. In the early 1970s, this stance has led to a series of attacks against vehicles delivering Folha de S. Paulo, which were burned down by leftist resistance groups. According to Elio Gaspari
Elio Gaspari
Elio Gaspari is a Brazilian journalist and writer resident in São Paulo, Brazil. He came to Brazil while still an infant, and began his career in journalism not long thereafter...
, currently a columnist for Folha de S. Paulo, "cars of the company were borrowed to the DOI
DOI-CODI
The Destacamento de Operações de Informações - Centro de Operações de Defesa Interna was the Brazilian intelligence and repression agency during the military government . This period started on March 31, 1964 with the removal of the civilian government by military forces and ended in the 1984....
, which used them as coverage to transport prisoners".
The rising of a renewed and engaged writing team, featuring prominent names such as Cláudio Abramo
Cláudio Abramo
Cláudio Abramo was a Brazilian journalist and author. Born to Vincenzo Abramo and Iole Scarmagnan , his siblings are Athos Abramo, the Trotskyst actvist Fúlvio Abramo, Beatriz Abramo, the actress Lélia Abramo, Mário Abramo and the engraver Livio Abramo...
, Boris Casoy
Boris Casoy
Boris Casoy is a Brazilian journalist, the son of Jewish Russian immigrant parents. He has spent most of his professional life in TV journalism and is currently a Brazilian TV news anchorman....
, Clóvis Rossi, and Jânio de Freitas, led a change in the editorial line of the newspaper, which in the 1980s was marked by immediate support to the Diretas Já
Diretas Já
Diretas Já Now) was a civil unrest movement which, in 1984, demanded direct presidential elections in Brazil.-Participants of the movement: The movement brought together diverse elements of Brazilian society. Participants came from a broad spectrum of political parties, trade unions, civil,...
movement. In the late 1980s, the newspaper was a pioneer in Brazil in the installation of computers in its newsroom. Later the newspaper dared to hire an ombudsman, something quite unusual for a major Brazilian newspaper then. It was so groundbreaking for its time that led to many clashes between then ombudsman Caio Tulio Costa, and Paulo Francis
Paulo Francis
Paulo Francis , was a Brazilian journalist, political pundit, novelist and critic....
, which eventually moved to rival O Estado de S. Paulo. Since the 1980s, Folha de S. Paulo was also an early adopter of graphics and tables that explain, in a didactic manner, the details of breaking news and the context of the same.
In early 1990s, the newspaper began to invest in developing new products and supplements, such as Revista da Folha (Folha Magazine), Folhateen, and TV Folha. Marketed by a major advertising campaign, in which staff director Matins Suzuki Jr. himself announced the new features of the newspapers, Folha de S. Paulo went on to lead sales in São Paulo, surpassing O Estado de S. Paulo. A graphical reform in the mid-1990s and the launch of gifts such as the Atlas Folha and dictionaries strengthened the newspaper's leadership. In October 1996, a Sunday edition of Folha de S. Paulo sold as much as 489,000 copies in newsstands alone.
However, over a decade later, the scenario is quite adverse for the newspaper. Data from the Checked Circulation Institute (Instituto Verificador de Circulação – IVC) shows that Folha de S. Paulo ended the first trimester of 2009 selling a daily average of 298,351 copies, while in early 2000, that average was of 429,476 copies, which represents a decline of almost 50% in sales, although it remains the best-selling newspaper in the country.
Grupo Folha
After acquiring several other companies, the Folha GroupGrupo Folha
The Grupo Folha is a Brazilian conglomerate of publishing companies, including newspapers, publishing houses, print shops and so on...
became second only to the Organizações Globo
Organizações Globo
Organizações Globo is the largest media conglomerate of South America, founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1925 by Irineu Marinho. It also owns companies on the food industry and the real estate and financial markets....
media conglomerate in Brazil. Eventually the empire was passed on to Frias' children, Luiz and Otavio, which became president and editor of the newspaper, respectively. Today, the newspaper has an online edition, titled FolhaOnline, hosted on Latin America's largest Internet Service Provider, Universo Online
Universo Online
UOL once known as Universo Online, is a Brazilian online service provider and internet service provider. It is the leader in Latin America and the homepage portal is the biggest in the Portuguese speaking world.UOL is currently ranked at Alexa TOP 100...
, which is also part of the Folha conglomerate.
Convictions
Folha has been convicted in court several times for the content it has published. In August 2008, the newspaper was ordered by the justice to pay a compensationCompensation
Compensation can refer to:*Financial compensation, various meanings*Compensation , various advantages a player has in exchange for a disadvantage*Compensation *Compensation , by Ralph Waldo Emerson...
of 250,000 reais
Brazilian real
The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....
(around 145,000 U.S. dollars) to a lawyer for publishing a picture of him to illustrate a news story about a gay village in São Paulo, which could lead to the interpretation that he was gay. According to the plaintiff's defense, the picture was taken secretly when he was hugging a male friend. The photographer eliminated their wives from the photograph.
In March 2010, journalist Eliane Cantanhêde and Folha were ordered to pay 35,000 reais (around 20,500 U.S. dollars) to the judge Luiz Roberto Ayub as a compensation for moral damages. According to an article published by Cantanhêde, the judge "abandoned his 'false morality' and went on to contradict the law" in order to please the federal government. Judge André Pinto, who heard the case, understood her statement as an allegation of misconduct and bias.
In April 2010, the newspaper was ordered to pay a compensation of 50,000 reais (around 29,300 U.S. dollars) to blogger Luis Favre
Luis Favre
Luis Favre is the pseudonym of Argentine-born Brazilian journalist and political activist Felipe Belisario Wermus. Born in Buenos Aires, Favre joined the political party Politica Obrera as a young man. Later, he moved to France and became a member of the Internationalist Communist Organisation ,...
, former husband of Marta Suplicy
Marta Suplicy
Marta Teresa Smith de Vasconcelos Suplicy is a Brazilian politician and psychologist. She was Mayor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2004 as a member of the Brazilian Workers' Party...
. Folha had published, in 2001, an advertisement authored by journalist Claudio Humberto, in which Favre was defined as a "kind of left-wing swindler, a Trotskyist with unsurpassed mental confusion and God's teacher, of the 'know it all' type. With the talk of an encyclopedia salesman and ingratiating as a tango dancer, he is everything that the good Senator Suplicy
Eduardo Suplicy
Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy is a Brazilian left-wing politician, economist and professor. He is one of the founders and main political figures on the Workers Party of Brazil .-Biography:...
is not: a 'dog'".
In June 2010, the newspaper was ordered to pay a compensation of 18,000 reais (around 10,500 U.S. dollars) to a woman cited in an article by journalist Elio Gaspari
Elio Gaspari
Elio Gaspari is a Brazilian journalist and writer resident in São Paulo, Brazil. He came to Brazil while still an infant, and began his career in journalism not long thereafter...
as a participant in a bomb attack against the U.S. consulate in São Paulo, which occurred in March 1968. Although the woman did belong to the guerrilla group Vanguarda Popular Revolucionária (Revolutionary Popular Vanguard), she was out of the country at the time in which the incident took place. Judge Fausto Martin José Seabra, in his ruling, said that the newspaper had "abused its right to inform, attacking the honor and the image of the plaintiff by attributing to her the commission of a crime".
"Ditabranda"
On 17 February 2009, an editorial criticizing the Hugo ChávezHugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
administration in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
referred to the earlier Brazilian military dictatorship as a "ditabranda
Dictablanda
"Dictablanda" is a word used by political scientists to describe a dictatorship in which civil liberties are allegedly preserved rather than destroyed. The word dictablanda is a portmanteau of the Spanish words dictadura and blanda...
" ("soft dictatorship"). Reactions to the usage of the term, with its implication that the dictatorship had not been harsh, were almost immediate.
Aside from the newspaper's readership, the first people to condemn the usage of the term were University of São Paulo
University of São Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...
professors Maria Victória Benevides and Fábio Konder Comparato. Folha answered that it "respects the opinion of readers that disagree with the usage of the term in the editorial to refer to the Brazilian military regime". However, it tried to dismiss the letters sent by Benevides and Comparto, claiming that they "have not yet expressed their repudiation of left-wing dictatorships, such as the one still in power in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
". According to Folha de S. Paulo, the professors' indignation was "cynical and deceitful".
The newspaper was heavily criticized on the internet and by other media outlets, such as small left-wing magazines Fórum, Caros Amigos
Caros Amigos
Caros Amigos is a monthly Brazilian magazine which focuses on politics, social issues and culture from a left wing point of view. It is published in São Paulo and distributed throughout the country by Editora Casa Amarela...
(which published a cover story on the usage of the term), and Carta Capital. None of these critiques, however, had as much visibility as a news story titled "The ditabranda scandal" run by Rede Record
Rede Record
Rede Record de Televisão is a Brazilian television network, founded in 1953 by Paulo Machado de Carvalho, also founder of Rádio Record. Currently it is owned by businessman Edir Macedo, founder and bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Since 2007 it is Brazil's second largest...
on its Domingo Espetacular Sunday newsmagazine. It accused the Grupo Folha of maintaining liaisons with the former dictatorship's repressive bodies. Folha de S. Paulo rejected the accusations, which made Record run the story once again in its flagship newsprogram Jornal da Record and post it on its official YouTube channel.
Dilma Rousseff's criminal file
On 5 April 2009, a few months after the "ditabranda" controversy, Folha published an alleged criminal fileCriminal record
A criminal record is a record of a person's criminal history, generally used by potential employers, lenders etc. to assess his or her trustworthiness. The information included in a criminal record varies between countries and even between jurisdictions within a country...
of Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Rousseff
Dilma Vana Rousseff is the 36th and current President of Brazil. She is the first woman to hold the office. Prior to that, in 2005, she was also the first woman to become Chief of Staff of Brazil, appointed by then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva....
, at that time Chief of Staff of Brazil
Chief of Staff of Brazil
The Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic is the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of Brazil, and a senior aide to the President.In Brazil, the Chief of Staff is a member of the president's cabinet, with the rank of Minister....
. The file classified her as a "terrorist" and "bank robber
Bank robbery
Bank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank during opening hours. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of...
". The image of the file was placed near a story about an alleged 1968 plan of Rousseff's guerrilla group, the Vanguarda Armada Revolucionária Palmares
Vanguarda Armada Revolucionária Palmares
The Vanguarda Armada Revolucionária Palmares was a far left guerrilla organization in Brazil, which fought against the military dictatorship installed after the United States government-backed 1964 coup d'état in the country. The organization was named after Palmares, a legendary quilombo...
, to kidnap Antônio Delfim Netto, who had been the Finance Minister of the military regime. Rousseff questioned the authenticity of the file, stating that it was "not in any of the archives that we have checked so far" and that it was a recent and manipulated artifact. The controversy regarding the file led Folha to admit that not only had the file not been obtained from the archives of DOPS, the political police of the military dictatorship – in contrast to what had been previously stated – but also that the file's authenticity could not be confirmed. The newspaper also stated that the image was received via e-mail. The file can be found on several far right-wing websites supportive of the dictatorship.
Rape accusation against Lula
On 27 November 2010, Folha published an article by former Workers' PartyWorkers' Party (Brazil)
The Workers' Party is a democratic socialist political party in Brazil. Launched in 1980, it is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing movements of Latin America. It governs at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties since January 1, 2003...
member César Benjamin accusing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
of having told Benjamin, during a meeting for Lula's 1994 presidential campaign, that Lula had attempted to rape
Prison rape
Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff.In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 140,000 inmates had been raped while incarcerated. and there is a significant variation in the rates of prison rape by race...
another inmate while he was being held as a political prisoner in São Paulo. According to filmmaker Sílvio Tendler, who was at the meeting, Lula's account was merely a joke. Advertiser Paulo de Tarso Santos, also present at the meeting, stated that he does not remember such talk ever taking place. The accusation was also denied by José Maria de Almeida
José Maria de Almeida
José Maria de Almeida often known as Zé Maria is a leader of the United Socialist Workers' Party .He was their candidate for president of Brazil in the Brazilian general election, 2002 and 2010.-External links:*...
, who had been incarcerated alongside Lula in 1980. He declared to "have reasons to attack Lula. His government is a tragedy for the working class. But what was written never happened". The allegedly raped inmate later declared to Veja
Veja (magazine)
Veja is a Brazilian weekly newsmagazine published in São Paulo and distributed throughout the country by the media conglomerate Grupo Abril. It is the leading weekly publication in the country, and one of the most influential outlets of the Brazilian press...
that he would not speak to the press, and that "whoever made the accusation should prove it". Folha was criticized by media analysts, notably Alberto Dines
Alberto Dines
Alberto Dines is a Brazilian journalist and writer. With a career spanning over five decades, Dines directed and launched several magazines and newspapers in Brazil and Portugal...
, for publishing the article without checking its factuality first.
2010 World Cup ad
On 29 June 2010, Folha mistakenly published an ad by Extra HipermercadosExtra Hipermercados
Extra Hipermercados is a major Brazilian hypermarket and supermarket chain, owned by Grupo Pão de Açúcar.As of December 2005, Extra has 76 stores...
(owned by Grupo Pão de Açúcar, one of the sponsors of the Brazil national football team
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
), which read: "A I qembu le sizwe sai do Mundial. Não do coração da gente" (The I qembu le sizwe leaves the Cup. But not our hearts). The ad suggested Brazil was out of the World Cup, when it had actually defeated Chile
Chile national football team
The Chilean national football team represents Chile in all major international football competitions. The team is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. They have appeared in eight World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup finishing in...
3-0 and advanced to the next stage. According to Folha, there was a mistake during the selection of the material to be published.
2010 elections
On 18 July 2010, Folha declared in an article that it would not support any candidancy, and that it would make a neutral coverage of the 2010 Brazilian electionBrazilian general election, 2010
The first round of the Brazilian general election of 2010 was held on Sunday, October 3, 2010. The Presidency of the Republic, all 513 Chamber of Deputies seats and 54 out of 81 Federal Senate seats were contested in this election, along with governorships and state legislatures of all 26 states...
-related facts. The text was received with criticism by analysts. Folha was instead perceived to support the José Serra
José Serra
José Serra is a Brazilian politician, former secretary of state, congressman, senator, minister of Planning and Minister of Health, mayor of São Paulo and Governor of São Paulo state.-Background:...
candidacy. On September, Folhas ombudswoman
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
, Suzana Singer, harshly criticized the newspaper. She picked pieces of e-mails she had received from Folha readers mocking the paper's pretensions of impartiality. According to her, Folha was "dedicat[ing] itself to turn the life and work [of Ms. Rousseff] upside down" and report on the collected information in a partial manner. Brazilian Twitter users launched the hashtag "Dilma Facts by Folha" to satirize the way the newspaper covered Rousseff's presidential candidacy.
Falha website
On 30 September 2010, an injunction given by the 29th Civil Court of São Paulo Court at the request of FolhaIndependent media
Independent media refers to any form of media, such as radio, television, newspapers or the Internet, that is free of influence by government or corporate interests. The term has varied applications...
and other bloggers, which launched the Censura eu, Folha (Censor me, Folha) campaign. Folha
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
, which said the newspaper was incurring in a "new form of censorship".
According to Folhas legal team, they requested the injunction to defend the newspaper's trademark from misuse, because the similarity of names could cause "an explicit and intentional confusion" between the newspaper and the website among the readers of the latter. As a matter of fact, the judge which gave the injunction closing down the website said that his decision was not based "in the satire, which is not forbidden, but on the use of a logo very similar to the one used by the plaintiff". The Falha website currently displays messages of support by famous people, such as former Culture Minister Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, to whom Folha should sue Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
, which created the term Falha de S. Paulo to refer to the newspaper.
The case was highlighted in the website of the American technology magazine Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
. It was also commented by Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
, founder of Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, during an interview to Folhas main competitor, O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo is a daily newspaper published in the Metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil, and distributed mainly nationally. It is owned by Grupo Estado, a holding company which publishes the Jornal da Tarde and owns the radios Rádio Eldorado AM and FM and the Agência Estado, largest...
, on 23 December 2010. "The blog is not intended to be the newspaper and I think it must be released", he said. The case was also highlighted by Andrew Downie in a Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
blog. According to him, Folha
External links
- Folha Online
- Mobile phone version
- Folha de S.Paulo (printed version)
- http://www.google.com/custom?q=Folha&cof=GALT%3A0000CC%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2FWORLDMEETS.US%3BGL%3A0%3BVLC%3A0000FF%3BAH%3Aleft%3BBGC%3AE9f9E9%3BLH%3A90%3BLC%3A0000CC%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2FWORLDMEETS.US%2Fimagesui%2Fwalogo_siteid.gif%3BALC%3A0000CC%3BBIMG%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2FWORLDMEETS.US%2Fimages%2FUSAbkgd.jpg%3BLW%3A213%3BT%3A00354F%3BAWFID%3A834a24b6e0f3e242%3B&domains=WORLDMEETS.US&sitesearch=WORLDMEETS.USEnglish translations of Folha articles available at nonprofit WorldMeets.US]
