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“Ninety percent of people suffer because
of stray bullets, but the traditional media think the community is 90 percent bandits.”
-Tony Barros
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In 2002, Brazilian journalist Tim Lopes was tortured, killed
and dismembered with a Samurai sword in a Rio favela (slum) after
going undercover and filming drug deals. It was the first time the
traffickers–who run the neighborhoods–had killed a journalist.
Now, the slums are mostly off–limits to the media and only the 12
correspondents of the website Viva Favelas dare to report from
inside the favelas where they live. But they have to tread carefully:
Residents who talk to journalists risk their lives, says staffer Tete
Oliveira. “People can't say 'red' in areas controlled by the Third
Command, and they can't say 'third' in areas controlled by the Red
Command. In this reality you can't report on drug gangs. We write
about violence, but more about how people are prisoners of it.”
Correspondent Tony Barros (left) has to self–censor. “If it's
public, I can cover it; if it's an execution, I can't.” It's dangerous,
but worth it. “I'm a bridge to the outside world. I can show others
how we suffer, but also how we enjoy life.”
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“Globo doesn't have a monopoly; it's the democratic option of the people.”
-Luiz Erlanger
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When a gunman took the passengers of a bus hostage
on June 12, 2000, the COLORS correspondent, like most Brazilians,
was watching it live on Globo, Brazil's biggest TV network. He
watched it all–the mock executions, the hostages moving around
the bus–until the gunman left the bus holding a hostage. “All of
a sudden Globo cut away. In fact, a policeman aiming for the
gunman shot the hostage. But I watched Globo and I was left with
the impression that the gunman killed the hostage, which was the
official version.“ It was only two years later when he watched
Õnibus 174, a documentary about the event, that he learned the
truth. The majority of Brazilians never did: Globo reaches 98
percent of Brazil's municipalities and sometimes–during the
conclusion of a particularly popular soap opera, for example–can
get 90 percent ratings. “For most people,” our correspondent says,
“the only news they get is from Globo and that means what Globo
says is true, is true.” So, is Globo a danger to free speech? Not
according to spokesperson Luiz Erlanger. “We recently did a
survey of 3,000 people across the country and we had a very high
level of acceptance. We were recognized for the diversity of our
ideas. No, I can't send you a copy; it was done for internal
purposes.”
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Newsreader Fatima Bernardes presenting Globo's nightly news show,
Jornal Nacional.
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