Shouting, pushing, punching. Lies, threats and intimidation. Journalists began to suffer, in full working hours or even outside of it, violence of different types that tried to silence those who work with the word and with the image. In the year 2022, according to the most recent report released by the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), professionals in the country were victims of 557 attacks, 23% more than in the previous year, which demonstrated an “unprecedented” increase in violence. Entities that defend the category assess that it is urgent and possible to reverse this scenario with the participation of different sectors of society and measures of the Public Power. The year 2022 was marked by political violence against professionals, with 31.6% of attacks directly related to electoral coverage. On most occasions (56.7%), according to the document, aggressors were state agents, such as elected public managers or public officials, such as security forces. “Abraji’s monitoring report shows this growth very clearly. It is important to say that this phenomenon is not exclusive to Brazil, but, in Brazil, there are particularities”, explains the president of Abraji, Katia Brembatti. Discrediting the press so that it is not an effective government inspector (one of the functions of the activity) has its own trajectory in the country. “It was more accentuated from the June 2013 days and in the following years from political speeches. But what we saw from the 2018 election campaign is unprecedented”, she explains. Violence was embodied by ordinary people as well. “There was a relationship between the actions of supporters and the speech of the then President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro (2018-2022). Often, supporters didn’t stop at speeches, which is already serious, but went on to physical aggression”, says Katia Brembatti. According to the president of the National Federation of Journalists, Samira de Castro, the attacks by state forces against journalists since June 2013 served as a dangerous trigger. “Then we saw the growth of violence that we can characterize as generalized in society. It’s ordinary people who attack journalists. These people want to rely on fraudulent information passed through messaging networks, ”she assesses. “It’s possible to reverse” Journalist’s Day is celebrated on April 7th. Photo: Fabio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/ Agência Brasil The entities believe that the escalation of violence is reversible, even though they recognize that the scenario of aggressions will not end overnight. “One way to reverse this is to work to raise awareness among the authorities and society as a whole. Disagreements should be based on arguments and not on the practice of crimes. Another urgent change is to fight against impunity”, says the president of Abraji. For entities, sectors must act both together and separately. “We also need public policies”, says the president of Abraji, in an interview with Agência Brasil. The entities evaluate as positive the creation of the National Observatory of Violence against Journalists and Social Communicators installed by the Ministry of Justice. Katia Brembatti understands that this observatory should be more than a case counter or statistics enumerator, but also a policy for taking action. For the president of Fenaj, Samira de Castro, the creation of the observatory was an important first step. “This observatory will have an important power to evaluate the statistics, the cases, the complaints that arrive and, based on this survey, produce a diagnosis to make these public policies viable”. Therefore, she understands that this measure helps to endorse a national security protocol in favor of the category and against impunity. “They can, for example, work together with the National Congress to pass a law federalizing investigations into crimes against journalists” For the president of Abraji, Brazil needs the police, the Public Ministry and the Judiciary to be alert to the fact that these cases are not common violence. “When you attack a press professional, you attack what that person does and democracy. For a reversal of the scenario, there needs to be a support network for people attacked because they need to know what their rights are and know how to appeal. Paying attention to the vulnerabilities of the regions is also essential. “What we see is that the main targets are in small towns, where the political dispute tends to be very fierce”, she says. “Until recently, Brazil was not, in general, a dangerous place to be a journalist . Today it has become almost a matter of war to go out on the street”, says the president of Abraji. Violence against women In 2022, 145 explicit gender attacks were recorded with aggression against women journalists. The presidents of the entities understand that, in addition to the numbers, it is necessary to contextualize that the gravity of the aggression is more cruel and virulent. ]“There are attacks against the reputation of women journalists and especially against black women journalists. They are victims of serious recurrent attacks that undermine the mental health of these professionals.” A watershed in terms of the escalation of violence occurred in the January 8 terrorist acts. Another dossier published this year by Abraji recorded at least 45 attacks against journalists from the date of the attacks to the 11th of that month. “That day was tragic. I hope it is a historic day and that it will never be repeated. We know that this movement to increase aggression, which was built year after year, does not disappear overnight, but we hope that this will decrease”, evaluates Kátia.
Agência Brasil
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