JOURNALISM-BRAZIL:
A Drunken Spree of Errors

Mario Osava


RIO DE JANEIRO, (IPS) - It is essential ”to return the incident to its true dimensions: a case of poor journalism,” says the Rio de Janeiro Union of Journalists about the controversy surrounding Brazil's expulsion of New York Times correspondent, Larry Rohter, for his story saying that the Brazilian president is a heavy drinker.

Rohter seems convinced that he has discovered the reason behind the challenges confronting the Brazilian government, which include a stagnant economy, social problems continuing to worsen and criminal violence that is feeding panic in the country's big cities, particularly in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilians ”have begun wondering if their president's predilection for strong drink is affecting his performance in office,” Rohter wrote in Sunday's New York Times.

Condemnations of the story's insinuation that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's drinking habits were a ”national concern” came from across the Brazilian political spectrum, including from opposition lawmakers.

Tuesday night, the Lula administration surprised the country with the announcement that it was cancelling Rohter's residence visa -- a de facto expulsion from the country -- arguing that his story had been ”deceitful and offensive to the honour of the president,” said the Ministry of Justice.

But the decision to expel Rohter was a mistake that magnifies the repercussions of the incident and turns the libeller into a victim, criticised politicians like former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2003) and even some of Lula's party members, such as Senator Cristovam Buarque.

Local journalists and lawyers call it an authoritarian decision that ”violates freedom of the press” and undermines Brazilian democracy. Foreign correspondents groups are protesting the act of censorship, but are distancing themselves from Rohter's story.

But members of the government seem to think there is a conspiracy against the ”emerging leadership” of Lula, and of Brazil on the international scene, forgetting that The New York Times editorially has tended to favour Brazil's positions, such as its stance against U.S. farm export subsidies.

Several officials argued that Rohter's expulsion is necessary and just, because the journalist offended the president and, by extension, the entire country, turning himself into a ”persona non grata”.

However, Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos, on a visit to Switzerland, said he had not participated in the decision and admitted that Rohter could obtain a reversal of the decision if he were to file a legal appeal. Several judges agreed with the minister.

According to the legislation cited by the government in cancelling Rohter's visa, he has eight days to leave the country from the time he receives the official communiqué. But because he is travelling outside the country -- he covers other South American countries for the New York Times -- he is gaining a few days more.

Senator Sergio Cabral Filho filed habeas corpus with the Superior Tribunal of Justice on the journalist's behalf in order to prevent the expulsion. He said, ”I am the son of a journalist who suffered in prison during Brazil's military dictatorship,” which ended in 1984.

The statement from the Rio de Janeiro Union of Journalists, meanwhile, calls on the government to ”review the decision (which) sullies the image of leadership that President Lula has been building amongst the countries that are fighting to overcome misery and ignorance.”

The union's reference to Rohter's ”poor journalism” and superficial story refers to the lack of consistency of the article, which is based on quotes from individuals and statements published in other media, with no evident effort made to interview sources firsthand about the matter.

One of Rohter's sources is an article published in March in Brazil's leading weekly magazine, Veja. The author is Diogo Mainardi, a columnist known for his bitter and generalised criticisms.

Another is Claudio Humberto, whose daily column is picked up by several popular newspapers and disseminates gossip and political rumours. Humberto faces several lawsuits for his defamatory articles.

What Rohter wrote is not reporting but rather a ”cut and paste job”, a selection of quotes from stories published in other media, said Merval Pereira, columnist with the Rio daily O Globo.

What is surprising is that The New York Times, considered a serious newspaper, has published such an irresponsible article, he said.

The Rohter controversy initially seemed that it would fade away on its own, until the Brazilian government gave it new life by kicking the author out of the country, a measure that could be annulled by the courts.