Brazil and Italy will meet in a football game next Tuesday. The friendly match is far from having the importance of other disputes in the past, world cup decisions included, but the mood built around the game has set the national blogospheres on fire — see Global Voices.

After weeks of cross-Atlantic brouhaha, some bloggers are starting to wonder how and why the case has gone so far. Is the Brazilian Government’s decision to grant political refugee status to Italian felon Cesare Battisti really worth of such attention?

What elements could be at play to bring forth those remarkable outcomes, such as the minute of silence from the Ministers of European Parliament in a session last week in honor of Battisti’s alleged victims from 30 years ago, or the farewell of an Italian-born media icon in Brazil over the heated national debate on the case, and also Italy’s recall of their Ambassador in Brasilia?  The Italian government went as far as threatening to call off the friendly game scheduled to be held on February 10 in London, leading Brazilians to sense a blow out of proportion. Berlusconi is the one to blame.

Gratuitous altercation the one created by the “Battisti case” and the attitude of the buffoon government headed by Silvio Berlusconi. At least I took the time to study the subject before I ventured to write a few lines about it. Most analysts are open about the passion on their analysis and transformed the event into a partisan dispute, or worse, a football match.
Brasil vs Itália – Disolving in the Air

Italy, today, is going through the government of histrionic Berlusconi. He owns the huge Italian TV network,  owns newspapers, owns football teams. That is, he is the owner of Italy. And he is clearly fascist, xenophobic, racist.
Berlusconi Hystery and the Brazilian Sovereignity – Blog de Luís Antônio Castagna Maia

The reaction now is very different from last year, when the French government refused to extradite Marina Petrella, a former Red Brigades terrorist who was informed of the decision at her hospital bed by Carla Bruni herself. This time with Brazil, Ms. Sarkozy had to come out to dimiss any connection with Cesare Batistti, which ended up bringing more spice to the story.

Many blogs mention that the main source of the Italian enrage this time was the terms used by the justice minister Tarso Genro to announce the asylum grant, declaring that Battisti was a victim of political persecution and that his life might be at risk if he were returned to his homeland.

More than the decision itself, what provoked the violent reaction of the Italian government were the terms used by the Minister of Justice, Tarso Genro, to deny the Italian request, accepting Battisti’s allegations that he would be risking his life, or suffering political persecution if he were to be returned to Italy.
Battisti and Rother: the art of shooting your feet – Balaio do Kotscho

Although we can insist that the Brazilian decision was sovereign, it is known that Tarso did not consult the Foreign Ministry before making his decision. And he threw in the face of Italy and Berlusconi’s government some though arguments, not diplomatic and totally unnecessary. France obviously holds the same supicions that afflicts the strident Minister of Justice, but preferred to refer to the Petrella’s health conditions, instead of creating a case for nothing. Thus, forcing Italy to retreat. It seems reasonable that the same sovereign decision that Tarso upholds elevates the tension in relations with Italy, which saw a Brazilian Minister of Justice for the first time questioning the justice system of other country. A case of second class contempt. A good example of how a fair decision can be undermined by those who do not know how to respect the sovereignty of others.
Tarso has failed (indeed) on Batistti – Savarese’s Blog

Football is not the only strong link between Brazilians and Italians. There are many other cultural interfaces, and also the fact that Brazil is home for the biggest Italian community outside Italy. In the present case, it seems that this proximity has ignited a complex chain reaction over unresolved issues from both countries’ past: the “years of lead“.

In Brazil, where armed groups fought against the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 until 1985, an amnesty law resulted that neither security officials accused of torture nor those involved in violence against the state faced prosecution. Italy is proud of having maintained its political institutions during its ‘anni di piombo‘ (1970-80), but many aspects of the period seems to be shrouded in mystery.

A key figure in this debate here in Brazil turned to be Mino Carta, the Italian-born journalist, publisher and writer that helped create 3 of the 4 main magazines currently published in the country. Known as an independent and authoritative voice, and also a close friend to President Lula, he has used his blog to vigorously attack minister Genro for his stance and declarations on the Battisti episode. Last week, in a last post where he declares having lost faith in journalism, and in Brazil, Mr. Carta closed his blog and announced his silence at Carta Capital, the magazine.

It is Jean-Paul Lagarride on the call, from Darfur.
Question: “Hey, Does Tarso Genro wants to declare war to Italy?”  “Perhaps,” I admit. Here is the following dialogue.
He – Besides being a lawyer, he is a professor of history and political science. A master.
I – You think?
He – Yes, just gave Italy a lesson of democracy. How has Brazil came out from their years of lead? With the law of amnesty. Italy has so far not made their own law of amnesty.
I – Must be because Italy has not had a general Golbery [mastermind of the Brazilian redemocratization process].
He – Yeah. And how the old Golba did to Italy.
I – Maybe our dear Tarso has not noticed that there are lead and lead?
Lagarride e Tarso Genro – Blog do Mino

Minister Tarso Genro said in Belem [at the Social Forum] that against Battisti’s extradition hold line diverse supporters, from amnesty advocates to torturers of the dictatorship, “with the exception of Mino Carta.” I appreciate the reference, however, I’ve got to make note of the fact that the minister falls in startling contradiction. Was not he who on a burst that verges on the volterian satire, suggested  that Italy should implement an amnesty law like the one signed in Brazil by the dictator in charge? Perhaps the Minister does not know that while in Brazil existed a Terror of State, in Italy happened a serious and failed terrorist attempt to destabilize a democratic state of law established since the end of fascism.
Farewell – Blog do Mino

Cesare Battisti is inprisoned in Brasilia waiting for the final decision of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF). An important piece of the process is a letter from Francesco Cossiga, the hardline interior minister of the 1970s, confirming that Battisti’s crimes were indeed political in nature. In a recent interview on IstoÉ magazine, which was broadly reblogged by those following the case, Battisti urges his home country to review what really happened back then.

“I think Minister Genro’s gesture was one of courage and humanity. It is a very important not only for me, Cesare Battisti, but for humanity. Italy needs to reread their own history. We are giving the Italian nation the opportunity to read their story calmly, humanely … At that time, torture was part of daily life in Italy. Italy has to recognize that. But it can not. Because Italy is Europe. And Italy could not accept that in 1970 they went through a civil war. ”
Cesare Battisti – “Por que tudo isso comigo?” – Blog do Se

Navigating through the Brazilian blogs covering the episode, it is easy to find opinions that mirrors what the main media vehicles are publishing. Results of a recent pool at Globo.com shows 80% of disagreement with the Brazilian government decision to grant refugee to Mr. Battisti. Still, there are some interesting takes on the contradictions evoked by the different political solutions carried out by Brazil and Italy to resolve their political wounds of the past, and how to deal with the contradictions posed by today and tomorrow.

The mainstream media refers to the ‘terrorist Battisti’ as if he had acted yesterday, but we are speaking of things happened between 30 and 40 years ago. The Minister Tarso Genro is right to say that the press showed a different behavior when he proposed a debate on punishment of the torturers. At that moment they said it was a thing from the past … He is accused of having taken a political decision, but he followed what the STF had already decided on such cases. One of the minister’s  critics was governor Serra [from Sao Paulo state, the opposition main candidate for the 2010 presidential elections], who displayed his shock about granting refugee to Battisti, but in the last election supported Fernando Gabeira, who kidnaped an American ambassador, but is not considered a terrorist.
Italian fascists and Brazilian media lie about Battisti – Bahia de Fato

Finally, a basic question, unavoidable: what is the motivation of the Italian government? Why so much effort into putting their hands on a harmless character, after so long? The answer, or part thereof, is the domestic situation in Italy, marked by the crisis and a wave of protests in which stands out a strong student activism. Berlusconi and his allies react to the rise of a non-domesticated left swinging the scarecrow of the “years of lead”. The hysteria around the Battisti case, which is being manipulated to create an anachronistic association between “radicals” of yesterday and today, makes sense. In contrast, gives support to a speech in which the fascist mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, has just declared that “the Italian student movement is (might be) run by 300 criminals from La Sapienza university.”
The media against Battisti – Entreatos

Let’s hope for a good match today, where the genuine respect that people in Brazil and Italy nurture for both countrie’s citizens, culture and, specially, artful football, outshines minor politically motivated imbroglios.

A quick search on ‘brazil’ + ‘censorship’ in Global Voices returns a bunch of scary titles posted just in the last 6 months: Dismissal of Brazilian Blogger: Censorship or Just Business? (March 23rd), Bloggers united against Wordpress ban (April 12th), First blog falls victim to electoral law (June 1st), Blogging Against Web-Censorship (June 19th), Bloggers question the 13 new cyber-crimes (July 17th), Electoral censorship at work (July 22nd).

This time, the weird news sprouts from the state of Minas Gerais, where governor Aécio Neves is carefully preparing himself to run as presidential candidate in 2010, when Lula leaves office. In the midst of country-wide municipal elections, the opposing online journal ‘Novo Jornal’ was taken down by state level prosecutors — the Public Ministry — on (refuted) charges of anonymity.

Truth is that the Brazilian Constitution sets up an unusually twisted situation, especially for online speech: free expression of thought is assured in the same paragraph where anonymity is formally forbidden. Still, the seizure of ‘Novo Jornal’ is calling the attention of the blogosphere for the inventive strategy of using state level prosecutors and cybercrime allegations to immediately take down an informative website without the proper legal process. Blogs are also pointing out the fact that the mainstream media has been silent about the case — in what has started to appear as a pattern when it comes to negative coverage on Aécio Neves.

The matrix-like display (picture above) forced upon ‘NovoJornal’s web page sets the tone.

The State Prosecutor’s consideration is stated on O Tempo’s website: “Once the criminal investigation procedure started, it was found that there is no identification of who is in charge of the site — which labels itself as a Journal — resulting in a frontal violation of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees the free expression of thought but forbids anonymity, and also the Press Law, which applies to the Internet”… Apart from [issues of] political partisanship, journalistic viewpoint or anonymity, the one thing I perceive is that the arms of censorship are reaching out, and history tells us that they are usually utilized by the ones in power, and rarely for good reasons. More than debating the merits of the case, it is important to stay alert and be on guard. Thinking about it… wouldn’t that be the role of the State Prosecutors, and from the other side, of the media?
There are people who think censorship is something from the past – NaRua.org

At the moment it was taken down, the ‘Novo Jornal’ website was displaying on it’s home page an article heavily criticizing the Federal Supreme Court president, Gilmar Mendes. The article can still be read in Google’s cache. “Novo Jornal” also decried that Aécio Neves payed US$ 269 million of Globo TV Network’s debts on the purchase of Light [Electric Company].
Brought down news website denouncing Aécio Neves – O Biscoito Fino e a Massa

Contrary to the State Prosecutor’s arguments, “Novo Jornal” was strictly under the law, with it’s Director in Charge registered at the Regional Labor Office, holding the MTE nº 000311/MG, what puts him in charge of all the non-signed articles published at “Novo Jornal”… That’s how it is proved that there never was no anonymity as stated by the State Prosecutors. NovoJornal’s Director in Charge and it’s address are also listed at Registro.br, the official registry for all Internet sites in Brazil.
NovoJornal remains censored by Aecio Neves – Em cima da notícia

Aren’t there more important issues for the Public Ministry of Minas to investigate than to censor the Internet, following governor’s orders, disguised as an action against Cybercrime?
In the land of a presidential candidate, you censor the opposition as cybercrime – Rastreadores de Impurezas

As bloggers were quick to notice, there are some other things being done in Brazil (see also: “Bloggers question the 13 new cyber-crimes“, “The cost of the cybercrime bill“, “Cybercrime bill is now translated“) disguised as actions against Cybercrime.

In NovaE digital magazine there is a long article from blogger José de Souza Castro, the first to find out that “NovoJornal” was brought down by a legal action, where he starts to delve deeper in the details, which leads him to link this particular process to the siege that is being engineered in Brazil against Internet liberties [the Cybercrime Bill]:

“The government of Minas Gerais seemed to be in a haste to settle this issue with ‘Novo Jornal’. According to ‘O Tempo’, “the Cybercrime Combat State Prosecutors was created in Belo horizonte on July 16th this year. In face of the rampant number of crimes practiced by network users, the State Public Ministry has decided for its deployment. The Cybercrime Prosecutor acts as a support to justice prosecutors working on the criminal sector, and streamlines attendance to victims.” The newspaper adds, quoting someone identified as Vanessa Fusco: “The strategy is to act pro-actively in confronting this type of crime, which keeps growing mainly with the arrival of broadband to the interior”. And it oncludes: “A project authored by Senator Eduardo Azeredo (PSDB) seeks (or sought) to define and list the criminal acts performed on the Internet” (Novae’s text)”

Internet censorship in Minas Gerais – Em busca da palavra justa

The ‘NovoJornal’s case is also showing that, despite what the constitution provides on the matter of free speech, ‘anonymity’ may play an important role as a ‘checks and balance’ element in a democratic public space. The video below shows NovoJornal’s Director in Charge, Marco Aurélio Carone, answering why the articles on the site have no attribution and are not signed. The interview was published on YouTube some weeks before ‘NovoJornal’ was censored.

If you’ve managed to follow along this far, you will surely want to watch the video below, made by the Brazilian Daniel Florêncio for Current.TV, and presented as “an investigation into the seemingly increasingly curtailed press in Brazil”. But first, a blogger account to add context:

Florêncio’s report was ‘born’ from the documentary “Liberdade, essa palavra“ (Freedom, this word), produced in 2006 by then journalism student Marcelo Baêta… Both Baêta’s documentary and Daniel’s report had repercussions in the national and international media (Folha de Sao Paulo and Le Monde published articles on the case), that generated sharp responses from Aécio’s partisans, who used the same tool, the YouTube, for defense… After seeing all the case’s related videos (see more here), I was puzzled by something: did the journalists really ‘take their asses off the line’ in the case?
Minas Gerais, the censorship and the state of affairs – NaRua.org

You may want also to watch the video response to the curren.tv’s piece.

The viral spread of Internet participation across the Brazilian population is producing quite a shaking in the established realms of media, politics and courts. But it is exactly this kind of upheaval that generates the discourse necessary to the discovery of balanced protocols for managing the contradictions revealed by the age of information. Stay tuned — this is an ongoing process.

There is a backup of [NovoJornal] site on http://rapidshare.com/files/138763257/novojornal.tar.bz2.html
Comment from Winston in Brought down news website denouncing Aécio Neves – O Biscoito Fino e a Massa

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While in some countries marijuana use is accepted with restrictions, in Brazil the debate on the issue is not even permitted. Talking about marijuana has turned into a taboo, as the march was prohibited by the Public Ministry a few days before scheduled date, leaving no chance for appeals due to the lack of available time. It becomes clear the country is unable to allow its citizens to debate their relationship with some of the problems we have around here. Should we label a demonstration for legal reform as drug use promotion? To debate necessarily means to influence? There are some terms that are not well defined in the heads of the justices, which results in hindering the citizens from claiming their right: the freedom to express themselves.
Tropical Fascism – Obrog!!!

Obviously, court decisions are to be followed, even the ones we consider as unconstitutional, as they hold the necessary presumption of legitimacy for the juridical safety of social and human relations regulated by the law — which is the higher value to be preserved in a legal system. But it does not mean that those decisions can’t be the object of academic and even political debate, under a critical perspective.The right to freedom of expression and to free gathering are guaranteed by the 5th article of our Constitution as fundamental values of the democratic regime. The democratic principle is the constitutional rule that determines not only the adoption of decision by a social or legislative majority, but also — and especially — the protection of the rights of minorities…. To subtract the right to protest against the terms of any law, criminal or not, from part of the citizenry is to injure to death the democratic regime. It subtracts its meaning, and becomes an imperial act, unsuitable for a Legal Democratic State…. If the postulation for the revoking of a law is not safeguarded by the presumption of the right to free expression, which behaviors could be protected by this right? Am I able to express that I am against the current laws, but can’t tell which of them and why?… Now a question starts: should pro-abortion demonstrations and other similar ones be also prohibited? Can it be understood as a promotion of abortion practice, which is a conduct listed in our criminal rule? If it can, the meaning of the Brazilian democracy will vanish.
The Marihuana March and the right to free expression, by Pedro Estavam Serrano – Última Instância

Cannabis was brought to Brazil by the first Africans arriving from Angola, and it’s use and cultivation was encouraged by the Portuguese, which resulted in it being culturally assimilated by the mestizos and by some Indian groups. Medical use was also common, mostly during the second part of the 19th century, and even advertised in Brazilian medical journals up to the first years of the 20th century. Some commenters focused on the cultural aspects of the censorship.

Such prohibition in a city like Salvador, insults the meaning of the ethnic and cultural use of this plant, which is part of the African cultural heritage. About this aspect, Gilberto Freyre [Brazilian sociologist, cultural anthropologist, historian, journalist and congressman] framed it this way: “the religious traditions, as other forms of culture, or black cultures, transported to here, along with the shadows of the sacred trees themselves, with the smell of the very mystical plants — the marijuana, or diamba, for example — are the ones that are resistent in a more profound way, in Brazil, to ‘disafricanization’. It is much more than the blood, the color and the form of the men. Europe won’t win over them.” (Sobrados e Mucambos, 2003, p.797). Could Gilberto Freyre be framed as a marijuana use advocate?
Cultural Democracy and the Marihuana March – Blog Oficial do Tio Tod

Recently, the Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil presented a proposal to register Ayahuasca, an psychoactive mix of plants that composes the Santo Daime and Hoasca tea, as a National Cultural Heritage. If the ‘small death‘ can, why not the ‘Manga Rosa’, the ‘Cabeça de Nego’ and the ‘Cabrobó’ [popular types of Brazilian marijuana]? …. While we don’t reach a consensus, and even less a solution to the problem, the President of the Brazilian Bar Association Federal Council, Cezar Britto, defends the freedom of expression as a fundamental asset of a democratic state: “The biggest evil we can impose to a country is to mute, to censor thought”.
The march that wont’ mute – Viva la Brasa

The 20th century brought about the spreading of the notion of the plant as a great danger to individuals and society, and also a surge of international agreements for the adjustment of national laws criminalizing the use of cannabis. Ecologia Cognitiva offers a good account and links showing how the the early Twentieth Century American movie industry played a key role in disseminating the new cultural references for the plant, and the ideological elements displayed by some commenters adds up to the notion that politics seems to play a role bigger than science when it comes down to defining how harmful cannabis really is.

If we take a closer look to the facts, we clearly perceive that the most common and dangerous myths and lies about the most used illegal substance in the world are conceived and spread by the US government, in total disagreement with the official scientific findings…. The 1936 film Reefer Madness (worth watching) started the persecution by portraying how just one inhale of the ‘damn smoke’ can lead healthy young people to an escalation of violence and extravagance that results in death and insanity. In spite of the declaration that the facts narrated in the film do not have any relation with real persons or situations, the film is aimed to ‘inform’ the ‘unprotected’ population about the ‘new number 1 public enemy’…. The famous 1972 research from the ‘National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse’, formed by specialists and congresspeople convened by then President Nixon, suggested in its final report that “we should de-emphasize marijuana as a problem” and affirmed that “drug uses for pleasure or other non-medical reasons are not intrinsically irresponsible”. These results did not gain attention in the political agenda at the time, and were totally ignored by the government and the following period was marked by great censorship of any research with psychoactive substances.
In 1988, after 4 years of study involving hundreds of testmonies and thousands of pages of documentation, Francis Young, DEA Administrative Law Judge published a report where he suggests reclassifying the dangerousness of cannabis, declaring: “it is reasonable to conclude that there exists safe uses for marijuana under medical supervision — to affirm the contrary is a clear error of judgement”. The official research was again not considered, and aproximately 10 years later President Clinton’s drug-czar (Barry Macfrey), declared to the press that “there is no trace of scientific evidence about safety or medical beneficials of marijuana use.” …. Meanwhile, in Europe, research ordered by the British government in 1996 registered an opinion that recomended the reclassification of the substance, indicating that “the negative aspects of the use should not be exaggerated: cannabis is no poison, and does not represent a high addiction level”. And the National Institute of Health (US) has promoted a workshop about the possible medical uses of cannabis, and among the conclusions it affirms that there may be some specific cases where the use of cannabis (smoked) surpasses the results of the medicines which utilizes the active principle (thc) in capsules.
Prohibited plant, denounced persecution – Ecologia Cognitiva

…[F]ederal representative Marcelo Itagiba (PMDB-RJ), the former State Public Security Secretary who filed the suit against the demonstration — which resulted in its prohibition by the courts — declared that the march was illegal, as it promotes marijuana use: “The march was created to promote a crime, which is the consumption of drugs. I am not against freedom of expression, but this debate should not happen in a public space, but rather in the academic environment or in Congress. This is a movement of a dozen bourgeoisies who seek personal satisfaction through their own vices”. The representative Itagiba is fully right, but, poor man, he doesn’t know who he is dealing with, or he rather knows it well but dosen’t want to go deeper on the record: it is exactly amidst the academic “community”, and among the environmentalist NGOs, and in a disguised way, behind the scenes of the “progressive” — and radical — parties where the fight for drug decriminalization and further liberation is conceived. Ex-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the ‘vaseline’ [lubricant], and governor Sergio Cabral, a reader of “The State and the Revolution” (from Lenin), two typical byproducts of our ‘politically correct’ medium, are in favor of this move and work on its behalf whenever they find a chance. The thesis is that legalizing the production, commerce, distribution and control of the drug by the state, the violence around it would vanish in a magic touch…. The concrete fact is that in the last 50 years drugs have massively spread into an universal scale. Alongside, it has turned into one of the most lucrative businesses in the world, generating something around US$ 800 billion a year. International mobs and organized crime are behind it, but also the FARC’s guerrillas, the ideological and revolutionary interests of all kinds, not to mention the very police, the politicians and sectors of the justice system — exactly the ones who should fiercely combat the drug dealing.
A Marcha da Maconha – Blog sem Máscara

One thing is certain: this year’s edition of the Brazilian Marijuana March is to be remembered by activists from all the different positions of the spectrum. On one hand, it is the first time that the movement to legalize was spread across the country, and on the other, it is worth some reflection on what could be called a backfire in the repression strategy, as the issue earned even more visibility in the media. The two videos posted at Filipeta da Massa illustrate well the situation: the first is a brief documentary of the single legal March in Recife, Pernambuco and the other reports the negative reaction to the prohibition as shown on the main TV news program in Brazil.

Among the many different points-of-view, some people are just starting to approach the issue. For them, it seems illogical trying to understand something without having fair access to all sides of the debate. Kind of obvious, isn’t it?

About the march: I came to know about it kind of 2 or 3 weeks ago, and I must confess that I found it ridiculous. I imagined that it would be a bunch of people who do not want anything from their lives, people who think they are great because of the drug, and that they would be smoking with that superior stand like saying ‘arrest me if you can’. But when I heard that there would be no use of the drug during the march, I backed off. I did it because I had the sense that it would be a serious initiative, even though the kind of people I’ve mentioned above would be there anyway, managing to ruin the good ideals of the initiative. Deep inside I thought it would not work, ’cause marijuana is a great taboo and nobody — from the people connected to politics — wants to be the first to debate its legalization. I don’t have a formed opinion about this. I’ve read a little folder about the march and I am not convinced if this should happen or not, it has its problems, it could bring some benefits, but I really don’t know what to say about it. If we could guarantee that the legalization would decrease the drug dealing, I would go to the march in order to truly support legalization, but as it is just a deduction — though a logic one — and not a sure thing… Anyway, the prohibition was an awful authoritarian decision, and such a thing will never have my support. The worst thing in this whole story is that nobody knows how to debate and be respectful. Everyone has their own opinion on the issue, and they just want to impose it over the others, but nobody knows how to be peaceful and convincing enough for that.
The story of how I lost a teeth + The Marijuana March – Grão de Estrelas

Petrobras officials quickly reacted saying that 3 months of further drilling would be needed before any meaningful estimate of volumes could be made. Yet, the day-after local media headlines took on the ‘announcement’ as a deliberate act to boost Brazilian markets and Petrobras’ share price, and speculated about the legal consequences the company could face for making such groundless comments. Meanwhile bloggers found a new gusher of opinions in the theme.

Haroldo Lima, director of National Petroleum Agency, has firmly denied having made any public announcement related to the Santos Basin’s find. He would have just made a comment based in articles published in a specialized American magazine. But the word of the director of a regulatory agency has weight not only over the sector regulated by it, but also over financial markets. Therefore it is not his role to make any inference. The weight of the word of an oil sector manager is much bigger than the opinion or an article of a journalist.
The weight of the word and the responsability – Leandro Vieira

The media, which in its overwhelming majority is opposed to the president Luis Inacio da Silva, the “Lula”, has tried to characterize Haroldo Lima as irresponsible, and the oppositionist CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission) says it will “investigate” him for having shared information with the public before an official announcement from Petrobras. That was an evident demonstration of spite, envy and hatred from the Brazilian right against the President Lula. That’s what we can translate from the attempt to disqualify the remarks of Haroldo Lima — a respectable public Brazilian figure. In its sordid ways, the media has tried to sensationalize the context of Lima’s comments, which were made in a closed event, as if he had made an announcement in a public plaza with a megaphone, aiming to reach the whole population. In fact, the information about the Carioca field was already known by oil specialists, and it had already been reported in the US by the “World Oil Magazine”.
Media roars against – Tribuna Petista

Lula: … tell Petrobras to make up another oil field,
so that I can get away from the latest scandals, heck!!!

The media hatred, which is infecting even members of the government, derives from the fact that Lima has revealed a big failure of the local press. Strategic information about our energy reserves, something hugely important, was circulating since February in the specialized media, and our local outlets were not aware of it. They were not reporting anything about it. What a colossal slip-up… The case of the mega-fields is emblematic. The right has become depressed about it! It has become depressed with the fact that Brazil has found oil! Now, it is depressed and revolted by the fact that ANP’s director has shared what the specialized media already knew, that there is a concrete possibility that the Sugar Loaf field contains more than 30 billion barrels and is the third biggest reserve on the planet.
In defense of Haroldo Lima: the media failed – Óleo do Diabo

It looks like the left-right bickering has once again thwarted media accuracy in reporting important issues, and the blogs are speculating about the hidden agendas in this case. Once again you will find different scripts for the same plot depending on which blog you read, but it is good to mention that the man in case, ANP’s director Haroldo Lima, is an historic leader from the left who is particularly known for his activism — he was jailed and tortured by the regime’s political police from 1976 to 1979 — through the traumatic period of armed resistance and military dictatorship in Brazil.

On April 2006, the government wasted 40 million reais to announce that Brazil had started to produce more oil than it consumes. But the bragged-about self-sufficiency has not happened until now. Petrobrás’ production has stalled, the usage has increased and the short-fall of the oil’s commercial balance has started to grow once again. The red numbers in 2008 may reach 8 billion dollars. There were fireworks also last year, to announce the discovery of the Tupi mega-field. At the time, the government declared that the Brazilian reserves, that reach today 14 billion barrels, could add up to 22 billion barrels. But it is extremely early to say if or when those reserves will be in fact explored. Last week, some data related to Petrobras was again used to feed political pyrotechnics. Haroldo Lima, National Petroleum Agency’s [ANP] general director has declared that Petrobras found a mega-field at Santos Basin.
Governo mente sobre a Petrobrás – Blog do Briguilino

It is possible that some speculators have made some money with the information that he [Haroldo Lima] has opened to the public. But these speculators would earn money one way or another. If the information turns out to be false, they will sell and win again. Haroldo Lima has no money or connections that would allow him to play at Bovespa [the Brazilian Stock Market]… Probably, almost certainly, Haroldo Lima’s goal was to denounce Petrobras’ contracts with foreign companies. This mega-field, which he called “Sugar Loaf”, it is not “ours” as it should be. Petrobras has only a 45% share along with the group of companies that will explore this field. The British BG has 30%, the Argentinian-Spanish Repsol has the remaining 25%. We should ask: why and for what Petrobras needs foreign resources for exploration and prospecting?
Helio Fernandes: Haroldo Lima, unsuspect and untouchable – à ilharga de uma geógrafa (blog incidental)

The one new element that the oil-rich dreams have brought to the Brazilian political arena is the government resolution to change its set of rules for oil exploration and production. Although assuring international partners that there will be no change to the rules of the game already under way, Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said on Thursday that “the government has to have better terms in the sharing of natural resources”. Indeed, the withdraw of subsalt blocks from last year’s annual auction of oil concessions was seen as a move to keep the most potentially productive areas out of foreign hands, and a local sign of a growing global trend of a so-called resource nationalism spurred by high oil prices.

With the discovery of this subsalt layer, called Carioca or Sugar Loaf, and of the other extraordinary reserves already identified, the exploratory risk has practically ended, and as Petrobras’ president Sergio Gabrielli has remarked, it has become a prized ticket. That was the reason why the government and the company has decided, in time, to withdraw from the 9th round of concessions the subsalt layer blocks, and the plan is to change the 1997 legal framework. As expected, private businesses and the media are making their moves against this approach, but the current reality formed by high international oil prices, the energetic crisis in South America and in the world, and mainly, the recent discovery of almost risk-free giant fields with high profitability, is indeed pushing a revision of the 1997 legislation.
Article from José Dirceu – Blog de um sem-mídia

In the original article [which generated the brouhaha], the author had a special interest in finding out the reason for the change of mind of the Brazilian oil managers concerning oil concessions and partnerships with foreign companies in the exploration of national reserves.

The article details the explorations developed at the Santos Basin, their position and depth, the possible extension of the field, which blocks of exploration it comprehends, as well as the characteristics of the oil already found… The last paragraph manifests the author’s opinion, his unease with the possible withdrawal of some key blocks from ANP’s 9th round of auctions, which he considers to be, maybe, the manifestation of the kind of “nationalism that some have predicted due to the decline of world oil reserves”. But he wraps up with what he considers to be the “real message of these discoveries” — “that we must not lose sight of the as-yet unknown, but possibly great, potential of basins that are often the exclusive domain of national oil companies”.
Petróleo de Carioca: o que dizem Haroldo Lima e a World Oil – Vermelho

“God is Brazilian,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in November in response to his government’s announcement that massive new oil reserves had been discovered offshore. Now, as might be expected, various interests are lining up to compete over who owns and benefits from this gift of God.

Luiz Carlos Azenha’s website says that Paulo Henrique Amorim was dismissed from IG on Tuesday, by fax. What first calls our attention is the suddenness of the portal’s decision. If it was not for Azenha, we would be accessing PHA’s site without reaching it, and not knowing why… It’s almost impossible not to speculate about possible political meddling. We wait for an explanation from IG. While waiting for it, we can speculate and worry about a media witch-hunt that may be starting, promoted by the big media companies and by the politicians who control it, the ones already known to all.
PHA’s Dismissal – Cidadania.com

It is important to mention that IG differentiates itself from the rest of the big Internet outlets by its sympathetic approach to the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. This perspective adds intrigue to the plot, as it is not so easy to identify the forces driving behind PHA’s release.

There is NOT ONE ‘RIGHT-WING BLOG AMONG THE ONES FEATURED ON IG. I will repeat: THERE IS NONE, NO MISERABLE BLOG, NOT EVEN A MEEK ONE. But it was enough for PHA to be expelled from the portal to start this bullshit about ‘PIG’ and other clichés of ridicule adored by the partisans. If it was a political interference, it was the most idiotic move, or a play at the level of those from Kasparov. Or, maybe, SURPRISE: it was none of these, and the contract was finished because of other normal causes, indeed.
Myths about PHA’s contractual termination – Imprensa Marrom

IG has an Ombudsman, who has a blog. He’s been posting the opinions of the portal users and readers on PHA’s dismissal, mostly they are negative. He has also managed to pull out an official statement from the portal’s press office:

In a response to the reader’s request for a statement from IG on the Conversa Afiada’s case, I am publishing below the official position divulged by the portal’s press office: “The contract with the website ‘Conversa Afiada’ was unilaterally terminated on March 18th, in full respect to all contractual obligations. There will be a penalty, and the journalist is being fully compensated. The decision to terminate the contract was taken as a result of a review of the contracts of all IG’s contributors, which began some time ago. The website ‘Conversa Afiada’ was extremely disadvantageous to IG’s business model, mainly because of the low return from its ad revenue”.
IG’s explanations – Blog do Ombusdman

The late official explanation was fine, but not enough. So bloggers kept speculating.

PHA had a high salary at IG – up to many dozen thousand reais. He could be the best paid blogger in the country. But in order to imagine the motives behind his dismissal, no one should focus only on the value of his wage. There is more in it besides his well known low visitation numbers.
Paulo Henrique Amorim dismissed from iG – Pedro Doria Weblog

PHA has himself expanded the story line with new elements reported at his newly created website:

HAS CITIBANK DISMISSED ME? Rather than answering a question, Citibank chooses to halt freedom of speech. I am printing below a post published on Conversa Afiada, when I still was at IG: “BrOi”: Dantas Blackmails Citi [Citibank]. “For ‘BrOi’ [the government sponsored fusion of two big telcos] to succeed, Citi has to make an agreement with Dantas [Daniel Dantas is controller of the Opportunity Group, and Citibank's former investment manager in Brazil]. In order to force the Citi to make the deal, Dantas has filed a document — in this process where the Citi is suing him — that he obtained through illegal procedures…. Because the Citi, having sued Dantas, now cannot be accomplice to this fraud: allowing the presentation of a stolen document in a court procedure”.
Has Citibank dismissed me? – Conversa Afiada

When the news that PHA’s blog had been dropped started to spread through the blogosphere, many readers turned to other IG bloggers in order to check on what was going on. There was Mino Carta’s, a senior journalist known from his major editorial posts in national magazines, who decided to end his blog at IG because of what he felt like ‘echoes of unacceptable situations that he and PHA have known very well’. But there was also Luis Nassif, maybe the most reputable on-the-scene blogger at this time, who came to the rescue of IG’s reputation in front of the blogosphere.

1. It’s been two months now that I’ve been challenging the most truculent venture in the Brazilian media. Through all this time, I have not suffered any pressure from IG. In no moment have I suffered any kind of veto or restriction. 2. There was a unilateral termination of the contract between IG and PHA. Both parties have their reasons to complain, even though the discontinuation was conducted in a disastrous and unelegant way. 3. I wish all the success to PHA — who called this morning to thank me for the note I published about his leaving, and also for the link to the new site. From IG I also received a call, saying that there is no change in relation to the freedom my blog has always had. 4. In no way can this episode be seen as a victory of junk journalism or less space for the independent blogosphere. And PHA also is empowered by the support and solidarity he has received. 5. To the loyal readers I ask for patience, and an effort to cool down the boiling.
Back – Luis Nassif Online

A more credible version has cropped up:

What this blog has found about so far — and it’s not too much yet — is that the motivation for the contract termination was PHA’s inflexible position against the fusion of Brasil Telecom with Oi (the ‘BrOi’ he keeps ranting about). As Brasil Telecom is the controller of IG, the whole story makes sense. And if this version is true, we can understand the contract termination from IG’s point of view.
The causes of the Os motivos do rompimento – Entrelinhas

An almost obvious comment from a typical blogger comes as a good advice.

This episode, although we are not talking about a general rule without exceptions, can serve as an example and something to be evaluated in the debate about partnerships between blogs and traditional media, be it a local newspaper with little audience or a mega portal such as IG itself: personal independence, so valued by bloggers, does not always combine with business interests.
Paulo Henrique Amorim and blogs in portals – Prensa 3.0

PHA’s ousting from IG will continue to raise partisan controversy in the blogosphere, but the censorship thesis has lost ground to a collectively formed view that is able to identify such events as adjustments in the development of a new media ecology. Indeed, changes are happening everywhere, and spreading fast.

The blog world is seeing more change right now than I’ve seen in years. Mike Arrington is close to those changes, and reports on some of them (money, linking, and cliques). Mark Cuban caused a bunch of noise a few days back by writing that newspapers shouldn’t call their blogs “blogs” because it destroys their brand. Hey, I agree with that. FastCompanyLive is really my videoblog, but I don’t call it that. Cuban followed it up with another post that’s very astute. Says what matters is why you do what you do.
The changeosphere – Scobleizer

The most evident feature brought by the wave of new entrants in the sports chronicle on the web is the customized report and commentary produced by teams’ fans. Since TV transmissions of football games started in Brazil, referees are not the only ones to be sujected to biased scrutiny of the fans. The obligatory account of the games by speakers and commentators from major TV networks, regular owners of exclusive broadcasting rights, also suffer the sharp analysis — and fiery reactions — from the opinionated crowd of the many clubs’ supporters.

… fans of Palmeiras [a club from São Paulo] had enough, and there is nothing new in it. But the Internet wave has finally reached a point of breaking the big media monopoly. When it all started, around 10 years ago, HTML could only build a one way channel. Today, any dumb person can do a blog as good as this one that you are reading, and in this democratic media space there is no need to mask your true opinions. There is no need to fashion an unbiased attitude as long as there is room for everybody, and each one will find what they really want. Today, there are websites made by ‘palmeirenses’ (’Palmeiras‘ fans) to ‘palmeirenses’, full of passion and communicating through their own dialect. They are able to praise enthusiastically as only passionate fans can do, and when it comes the moment of criticism comes, it is done in a positive way, not to crush the team. This is all a team supporter, who has until now had his intelligence and desires abused, wants.
A mídia palestrina – Parmerista!

The opportunity to express the full passion for their teams in a public sphere, free from the politically correct ‘impartiality’ and ‘fairness’ of the big media narratives of the games is also a feature for the enthusiasts.

Nothing is more important than the freedom to crush a defeated rival! Nothing. Some readers will ask if it is even more important than the game itself, and I say: Yes! What is the joy of a classic duel of traditional rivals if we get stuck into details such as “the team played with two lines of four…” Football, my friends, is not just a game. I know it seems obvious written this way, but the reaction of the people to Souza’s gestures obliges me to say this. Do you want to talk just about the game, about the “lines of four” (I can’t stand this expression anymore)? So go to a blog about backgammon or chess (by the way, games that I also master…). Football is football because of a potency called ‘rivalry’. Enough of straight laced football media. Don’t let the rival-crushing die!
Não deixem o esculacho morrer! (André Rizek) – Flamengo Eternamente

Amidst the hot exchange between rivals, the ‘impartiality’ and ‘fairness’ of the mainstream media sports coverage is also a disputed issue. A recent survey has showed that the carioca club [from Rio de Janeiro] Flamengo, with 32.6 million followers, has the biggest club fan base in the world. In this context, the predictable trend of the media to please the majority of the audience has generated its proper counter reaction in the blogosphere.

[full disclosure: I am honored to be part of this intelligent and valuable crowd that follow and support the world's most cherished football club, Flamengo]

It is not news for anybody who follows ‘carioca’ football that the press has an inclination to favor Flamengo. Having the biggest fan base, and consequently the biggest consume potential, all newspapers, magazines, radio and TV networks, and Internet portals show a trend to maximize the deeds of the ‘Urubu’ [black vulture, Flamengo's totem animal] in order to satisfy the masses and keep the consumer base. If they were selling bananas, that would do no harm as it would be part of the business. But as information sellers and opinion builders, these media should be more neutral and report the truth. Unfortunately, this is not what happens. Therefore, we created this space to complete and dennounce the intentional coverage gaps of the sports media in its pursuit of ever bigger profits.
Flapress – SecaFla.com

Apart from the steamed up aficionado debate, blogs and forums are accomplishing clever hacks to customize their own media experience of the games. As illegal as it can be, the use of web video streaming services that offers video/chat interfaces to relay the [copyrighted] games’ images has been

Fans of Sport Recife are broadcasting live the games of the Lion [Sport's totem animal] to other supporters who live outside the state of Pernambuco. The viewing, which started out as webcam captures directly from the TV, are now produced through TV capture boards… “I’ve started doing this for the pleasure of helping people from outside Recife who could not watch the Sport’s games. I don’t profit from this, it is a 100% amateur activity. Everything was accomplished through the intensive exchange of information among the forum users”, declared T.A. He received instructions on the issue from a friend living Portugal, who is also passionate for the Sport Recife and much interested in the parallel transmission. Besides Portugal, the ‘audience’ is formed in its majority by fans link in the UK, Canada, and in the Brazilian states of Pará and Goiás. Some of these users agreed to collaborate with the money to buy the TV capture board.
Comentário de André Ferreira em Vote nos Brazucas – Fundamental Vídeo-Conteúdo

Although a relatively recent phenomenon, the growing intensity of the networked exchange among like-minded football club’s fan bases is bringing a new dynamic to the game. The shouted opinions that used to come from the anonymous crowds in stadiums can now reach new audiences, and start making a difference in the now enlarged sports chronicle’s market of opinions. Players must now be responsive to a much larger group of loquacious coaches.

We played badly and ugly, mainly because of the mental faints of Toró and Léo Moura [Flamengo players who were expelled with red cards from the game with Nacional of Montevideu last week, lost by 0-3]. By the way, Toró, I hope the tragedy that followed your ill temper has served as a lesson for the rest of your life. Do you know where you’ve started to fail, young Toró? It was before the ball rolled, when the indomitable supporters of Mengão [big Flamengo] were greeting you and you, contrary to what you’ve always done, dit not salute the fans… The first obligation to anyone wearing the Sacred Mantle in official games is to salute the supporters who pay homage to you with their presence and praise. Neither you, Toró, and nor Souza did that before the game started. AND THE WHOLE TEAM FORGOT TO THANK THE FANS AT THE END OF THE GAME. This is a big disrespect before those who don’t measure the efforts to support the five times national champion Mengão Fuderosão [big f...ing Flamengo]. We demand that this clowny performance is not to be repeated, ever, in any field.
Homem que é homem não chora – FlamengoNET

As already reported here at GVO, Brazilian alternative sports media is also focusing on corruption involving club and league managers, player agents, politicians and sports promotion companies, as well as the big sports media outlets. Surely a good sign of what we can expect from the nation’s blogosphere, given the fact that the 2014 World Cup is coming to Brazil.

Folha’s problems started a week ago when Elvira Lobato, a reporter who is now facing about 50 individual suits, published an article about the finances of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God – IURD, and its connections with tax havens. The piece lists the TV network (2nd national audience), 23 TV and 40 radio stations, besides the other 19 companies — 2 newspapers included — that forms the church’s ‘empire’, but the suits actually complain about IURD being portrayed as a ’sect’.

The issue has called RSF’s attention, and the ABI [Brazilian Press Association] has released a note [pt] describing IURD’s reaction as an ‘unprecedented coercive campaign in Brazilian media history’. While the suits against Folha has generated such compelling response from traditional media and its backers, a very different approach is being adopted towards the legal dispute between Veja magazine and the journalist-turned-into-blogger Luis Nassif. As expected, the blogosphere has much to say about that.

The blogosphere is sizzling about Luis Nassif’s political-idoeological(?) dispute with Veja magazine. This is the first time I see an issue generating so much debate in the blogosphere. The curious thing about it is that not only the political blogs are following the theme. Earlier this year, Nassif has started to publish a series of articles about the role of Veja magazine in political affairs of the country’s recent story, specially during FHC and Lula’s government.
Luis Nassif X Veja Magazine: the blogosphere is sizzling – GJol

I’ve already written about that here, and I’ll repeat: I see no difference between IURD and big media in terms of character. Morally speaking, they are made of the same stuff. A reader asks me if I am in favor of the series of suits that IURD followers filed against ‘Folha’. Obviously not, but they are within their rights. In a democracy disputes are resolved in courts, and not through fights as it were in the age of the caves. Veja has decided to sue Luis Nassif using the same procedure, and until now I’ve not seen any national movement led by the OAB [the Brazilian equivalent of the American Bar Association], or the ABI [Brazilian Press Association] in defense of the journalist. Hypocrisy is a tribute that virtue pays to vice [sic]. Leave me out of that.
José, the Bishop, Nassif and Hypocrisy – Blog do Ailton

In response to Nassif’s denouncements, Veja magazine has filed legal suits against the journalist. The magazine has not refuted any of Nassif’s allegations, and has been using legal technicalities in order to delay or hamper the publication of the series of articles. The magazine has the right to go to the courts to seek reparation for possible damages. BUT, everytime the press publishes empty charges and somebody seeks for reparation, he/she is promptly accused of trying to silence the press, or acting against freedom. This time, no media outlet or big newspaper has come in defense of Nassif’s journalistic freedoms. Two weights, two measures. It is always like this. The curious thing is that the big media has been silent about Nassif’s charges. It is the big case of the moment in all newsrooms, on the web pages, but not even a line about the issue can be found in any big newspaper.
The battle Nassif vs. Veja: Big media in defensive mode – Blog do Desemprego Zero

As the whole Internet already knows, Luiz Nassif is publishing a series of accusations against Veja. I don’t know what motivates him; after all, as he says about me, these ‘are complicated themes, and she does not master the field’ … He must have his reasons, imperceptible to my naivety. I disagree with his political positions in general, which is not a surprise for anybody who reads what I write, and reads what he writes, in case there is someone included in such contrasting categories. But this is secondary, as it is secondary that, personally, we have built respect and appreciation one for the other. What matters, here, is that Veja has decided to sue him. Terrible decision! The press is going through a delicate moment, with lawsuits abounding everywhere. Just to mention the latest example, here we have the IURD casting a series of lawsuits over Elvira Lobato [Folha's reporter] through its followers, with the clear intention to silence her.
Nassif vs. Veja – internETC

IURD is worried about the effects that Folha’s articles, and also the ones from the two others newspapers — one from Rio and one from Bahia — may have had in the corporate partnerships needed to guarantee the expasion of the empire founded by Bishop Macedo [IURD's religious leader]. On the other side, Folha and the other newspapers are afraid that the wave of lawsuits against the journalist Elvira Lobato, and the reporters Bruno Thys (’Extra’, from Rio de Janeiro) e Walmar Hupsel Filho (’A Tarde’, from Bahia), authors of three different reports, will end up in an expensive bill of legal costs. The strategy, from both sides, is to contend over the concept of freedom: religious freedom and press freedom. These are two heavy arguments in terms of political marketing strategy, but fragile ones in terms of content. The reports do not threaten religious freedom, maybe only Bishop Macedo’s businesses, in the same way that the lawsuits filed by IURD’s followers do not threaten freedoms related to press and information. Meanwhile, the readers (at least the ones here at the Observatory) are showing a different approach to the issue. They do not show any sympathy for the Universal Church, but they do not sympathize with the press either… [At least] a segment of the universe of Brazilian readers is starting to show signs of maturity to experiment colaborative forms of information production, which is one of the big inovations brought by the web.
Another polemic around the media – Código Aberto (Observatório da Imprensa)

This feature of collaborative production of information is one of the most interesting aspects of Nassif’s series of articles. In the lastest chapters many readers of Nassif’s blog — should we say, community of readers? — are helping in the analysis of elements, links and evidence related to the intricate collection of facts that forms the ‘Veja Case’. This novelty, along with the perception that the quest for quality of information in the blogosphere is starting to rise above the usual left / right bickering, maybe a sign of the blossoming maturity of Brazilian blogs.

I call your attention to a genuine result of networking. The piece below closes the chapter ‘Lula is my alibi’, in the Veja dossier. It was a meticulous research job made by you (click here to read the chapter). When I asked for help from you, there were some people who laughed at my request. This crowd does not know anything about networked collaborative work.
The network and the g00db0ys – Luis Nassif Online

Something very important is happening in the Brazilian blogosphere since Luis Nassif has started to publish his reports about Veja magazine: the conversation has experienced an upgrade. From the habitual altercation between blogs from the left and blogs from the right, something new has emerged in the debate: information. Nassif is using a traditional tool, the report, to present to his readers the information he has collected, I am certain, after many interviews. (It takes work to inform). But as he used a blog to publish the stuff, the blogosphere gets better. Our blogosphere has not ben committed to to inform, even less to produce information from zero. Our hope now is that, following him, without hysteria, someone will take on the activities of the Secretary of Communication of the present government — or even from the last government — and show its habits. Who is favored, what are the standards for distributing advertisement, what is the editorial line of the ones awarded, and is it always the same ones? We journalists are accustomed to demand tranparency from governments and big companies. The media — and yes, it includes the blogs — holds one of the most delicate tasks of democracy: the role to inform. It is through the media that the audience takes notice of what is going on. Without a free media it is not possible to form an opinion. The same transparency that the media demands from governments and companies should be applied to us. We will probably have fights and polemics — of the healthy kind.
Luis Nassif, Veja and the blogosphere – Pedro Dória Weblog

Thus there are signs, as the blogosphere grows in significance, that it has begun to ask for itself the deeper questions of what produces both free and good information.

On its website, Talent Agency explains its new campaign to advertise Estadão’s website as follows: “The campaign exposes, in a playful way, the risks of searching sites on the Internet, managing to impart the newspaper’s website novelties“. I should say that it is a case of questionable sense of humor, to coarsely compare bloggers with… monkeys.
Estadão against blogs? – Pensar Enlouquece

Some comments try to mend the newspaper’s stance, looking for some alternative interpretations. But as I’ve mentioned before this is not possible, there is no other picture to take from what we’ve seen. The message is absolutely clear and comprehensive: all blogs, or even more, ALL CONTENT GENERATED BY NON PROFESSIONALS, sucks. The campaign is crystal clear in affirming: blogs copy information, blogs publish bullshit, blogs have no discernment.
Estadão campaigns against blogs – Brainstorm #9

It is obvious that Estadão’s marketing strategy was counting on the noise bloggers would make over the ads in order to achieve its goals, and the blogging crowd was surely among those who prompted a visit to Estadão’s new website. On the other side, some bloggers guesstimate that inflaming the dispute between blogs and traditional media at this time may turn out to be a bad idea, while others find it better to follow the joke.

It is a peculiarity of this case that, from the big newspapers, Estadão is the only one which is not hosted by a big Internet portal. This is just a fact, you take the conclusions. Besides, they use AdSense on their site. From what I saw, they are the only ones from the big newspapers who do that. Unfair competition, don’t you think? We find it improper for a major newspaper to try to win some cash in the same way that virtual monkeys do. Now serious, if Estadão is really committed to this retrograde approach then they are in bad shape, cause they are going against the tide.
Estadão, blogs and the blogosphere reaction – Tech Letters

OH NO! I got uncovered by Estadão!!! – Charles Pilger
This is the only way to deal with such an idiocy

The provocative campaign came in a moment when local bloggers were still digesting an interview given by Andrew Keen — the British historian who announced that Internet is killing our culture — to a local major weekly magazine. Laughable as it may be, the coincidence of the events reverberated on the traditional media, generating some weird attacks on the blogosphere.

The ‘Diário do Nordeste’ [newspaper from the Northeast region] has entered the debate with an editorial dealing with the qualification (or absence of) of those who are publishing blogs, and how the youth is absorbing the bad influence coming from these truth benders (us bloggers): “… with the proliferation and popularization of this kind of distorted information, eventually the adults could progressively lose their critical capacity and start to advocate points of view formated by some suspicious and occult private interests. The worst, in this case, is that there are blogs who appear to belong to individuals, but which are in fact backed by huge groups connected with inconfessable intentions“.
Diário do Nordeste, Estadão and the Blogs – Astrogyldo: O Estudante de Jornalismo

Apart from the monkey noise all around, a meaningful novelty from the digital media ecology called the attention of some bloggers: the addition of comments in Google News. Only the future will tell if it is just one more erratic Google beta app or a crucial step into a new era of online media, but the launching of the feature is a sure indication that the monkeys are not going away.

The articles and posts published are more and more taking the role of suggesting issues for the debate among readers’ through the comments sections. In theory, that always was journalism’s main mission, but it got reshaped by the communication industry through the transformation of news into a product to be consumed. Before the Internet, the absence of quick interactive applications between the newsroom and the readers has contributed to turn the news’ autorship into something much more important than it’s debate. The situation has changed now on the Web with the frenetic propagation of softwares designed to enhance the internauts’ participation, but the turnover has not yet been totally digested and understood in the newsrooms. The news are ceasing to be products, and turning into starting points of a process which begins with the journalists, but then is left to the readers to perform the main roles. Professionals will cease to be the owners of the news. The comprehension of such process will surely help to reduce the mutual distrust between the newsrooms and the readers of newspapers and magazines, and the audience of TVs and radios.
Interatividade com leitores corrige distorção na prática do jornalismo – Código Aberto

In Washington on Thursday (21 June), the White House spokesman declared that President Bush was ‘disappointed’ with the collapse of the talks in Postdam. The US President blamed Brazil and India for the meeting’s failure. “The president is disappointed with some countries that are blocking an opportunity to expand global commerce”, remarked the White House spokesman, Tony Fratto. “Big economies as Brazil and India should not stand in the way of the progress of small nations, the poor developing countries — but that seems to be what happened in Germany this week”, Fratto said.
Lula culpa ricos por fracasso em Doha; Bush critica o Brasil – Mercosul e CPLP

No, Mr. Bush. That was not exactly what happened in the city of Postdam, in Germany, where the G4 met. In fact, the powerful nations seem to be opposed to the growth of the less affluent countries, but this kind of relationship is not what happens between Brazil, India and the poorer countries. This pattern exists between the US, the EU and the poorer countries. The core issue seems clear to me — the rich countries refuse to cut the agriculture subsidies to their farmers, and this situation can’t be seen as fair “commerce”. End. Brazil and India properly left the talks. The Europeans said that the emerging countries were not ready to make concessions, and I should ask: what more do they want? Meantime leaders are still thinking that social policies are to be restricted to national borders, we won’t have any development in the “better world” project. The attitude of the Lula Government in the case of the Bolivian refineries was, in my view, iconic. It would be indecent if the Brazilian president cared only for the national interests [of Brazil]. The well being of a Bolivian citizen is worth the same as mine or yours, dear reader. But this is not the line of thought of Europeans and Anglo-Americans. That is the reason why the Doha Round is dwindling. Just like Mercosur, Alca, etc.
Às favas com o comércio justo – Expressão Literária

The collapse of the talks was nothing new, but some bloggers are closely following the local and regional media coverage, which is generally reverberating and amplifying the finger pointing. But some blogs and their commenters are presenting interesting fresh perspectives.

… important articles to understand the Doha deadlock and the reverberation in Brazil… “BUSH BLAMES BRAZIL” – Around here, the sites and portals followed the line presented by the White House, with calls and headlines like ‘Bush blames Brazil and India for the failure” or “According to Bush, Brazil and India are to blame for commercial barriers”. NO FINGER POINTING – “Wall Street Journal” and the “Financial Times” did not follow. The home page of the former, which questioned the “finger pointing”, was saying that “the talks collapsed when the most powerful four in the WTO could not settle old differences over agriculture subsidies”.
Os impasses de Doha – Luiz Nassif Online

Nothing seems to cool down the motivation of the local press to throw out the image of the Brazilian government and of it’s illiterate president — even if it requires the use of unlimited malevolence and disdain for the facts. It doesn’t matter that the position held by Brazil and India is important for the interests of its people. What matters is to hammer the same old line: Lula’s government is incompetent, also in foreign matters. The facts? As Mino Carta says about the Brazilian press, “if the facts don’t adjust to our ideas, damn the facts!”
Doha, São João e ACM – Blog do Galinho

“Brazil has done well. There was a clear unbalance in the conversation, disadvantageous to developing countries”, said Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez Lezcano to BBC Brazil… In Uruguay, President Tabare Vazquez’s advisers were not so enthusiastic, but supported Celso Amorim’s decision to abandon the talks in with the US and UE representatives, in Postdam, Germany. “It was better this way”, said the Uruguayan adviser.
Países do Mercosul apóiam decisão do Brasil na OMC – República Vermelha

India and Brazil slam the door on rich countries during Trade Talks That’s how the issue was introduced in a report from the Sao Paulo’s correspondent to Clarin [newspaper] in Buenos Aires. The headlines were mentioning the firm attitude of both countries, and the pressure made by the German Angela Merkel and by the British Tony Blair who called Lula, explaining that in the Doha talks, “… now, the undeveloped countries of the South are the ones who do not accept what is offered because it is asked that they open their industrial and service markets in exchange for a little access to the subsided and protected rich North’s agro market.” Argentinian Secretary of Foreign Commercial Relations remarked, “It’s better a failure now than quick deals that are negative to us”. A specialist from Flacso (Latin American Social Sciences Faculty), Diana Tussiesaid, said, “… we have good world prices for the rural production and bottlenecks in the industry [sector]. Today Argentina has no urgency, and it would not take advantage of a more open market. And we have to worry about the future, with the eventual fall of the prices of commodities and a bigger supply of goods”.
Doha na visão da Argentina – Felicio Rodrigues in Luis Nassif Online

An interesting piece of the plot came in an interview given by Brazil’s Foreign Minister Celso Amorim to ‘Valor Econômico’ right before the breakdown of the talks. He called the Brazilian journalists to his room as soon as he became aware of an orchestrated move by the EU and US representatives to blame Brazil and India for the collapse, and his account of what happened is bouncing around the blogosphere.

“First, they [US and UE] wanted to start the conversation over Nama – the industrial products. Mandelson, with that innocent style of his, said that they could start with Nama for a change. I had to stop that, and said that the core of the round is agriculture. We agreed to do something about Nama, but what would define the level of ambition for the goal of the round would be agriculture, and if we have to select an item, it is the amount of subsidies that is distorting commerce. Then he gave up, the trick didn’t work. In the end, the tactics were the same: they played that slow game of talking of peripheral issues, and when they arrived at Nama they saw that the concession level they wanted was not possible. They even talked about exchanging a 20 coefficient for an 18 equivalence, which means cutting 58% of the consolidated tariffs. That is obviously very far from what has been at any moment presented to them. Now I think that they [US and UE] tried something. They thought we wanted the round at any price, and that we would concede. They thought that we would abandon the Indians if necessary”. Min. Celso Amorim’s interview, published in ‘Valor Econômico’.
Amorim diz que EUA e UE “se acertaram antes” – Projeto Brasil

As it would be expected, English-language sources are also reporting the blame game over the talks collapse, and the interested readers will find diverse and insightful perspectives. I couldn’t help but select an interesting exchange post-comment that illustrates well what might be the main issue at stake — leadership. Lula, from his side, is emphasizing his oft-stated theory that the solution will never come out from the debate among the trade specialists and technocrats. Such pact can only come from an agreement between political leaders.

She (Susan Schwab, U.S. trade representative) told the Financial Times India had convinced Brazil to stick to a strategy that went directly against its own economic interests: ‘Brazil chose (developing country) solidarity over its economic interests,’ she said. Schwab indicated she felt that neither country had figured out how to provide leadership to the developing world, the newspaper said.
U.S. trade rep surprised by India, Brazil – Monsters & Critics

Which evoked an interesting comment:

Its funny how some people use concepts like ‘leadership’ to suit their own needs. From what I can understand here, India and Brazil, the two of the largest democratic, developing countries have fended off the developed countries in spite of some economic loss to themselves. This implies a better strategic position for all developing countries. How can this be bad leadership? Only if you wish to lead the countries into selling their products cheap. From the perspective of those wishing well for the developing countries, India and Brazil have done a good job. Way to go! Susan Schwab, this is not corporate America. Don’t tell the developing countries to be a team player and take one for the team. We are talking about millions of people who can barely make enough to survive and not about buying a vacation house by the beach.
Krish.org’s comment on U.S. trade rep surprised by India, Brazil – Monsters & Critics

In a 20 minute telephone call on Friday, 22, around 12:40, the British prime minister Tony Blair told president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that he was counting on Brazil to help save the Doha Round… Lula, however, insisted that the absence of balance between the demands and the offers of developed countries has brought failure to the talks in Postdam. During the conversation the Brazilian president managed to reinforce his old proposal of a meeting of world leaders where the political decisions needed for the conclusion of the [Doha] Round could be made. Lula’s reasoning with Blair was that the field for technical negotiations is exhausted, and at this moment, only the political will to offer concessions could make Doha Round’s final agreement possible. “The key now lies inside the political dialogs, and in the improvement of the offers from the richer economies”, summarized the spokesman.
Próximos dias serão decisivos para Doha, diz Blair a Lula – Canal Finanças