Attacks on journalists rise and have Bolsonaros in 42% of them – 03/29/2023 – Politics

Attacks on journalists in Brazil grew by 23% in 2022 compared to 2021, according to a survey by Abraji (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism). The entity identified the involvement of members of the Bolsonaro family in 41.6% of cases and recorded an increase in the number of episodes considered serious.

The document, released on Wednesday night (29) during a debate in São Paulo on threats to freedom of the press, records verbal and physical aggressions made directly against professionals and also the so-called stigmatizing speeches, which seek to discredit and persecute journalism in a way that general.

In 2022, a year marked by the tough presidential dispute between Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), there were 557 attacks on journalists, media and the press in general, according to Abraji. The year before, there were 453.

In 2019, the first year of the survey, 130 episodes were computed. The organization says that 2022 was the most violent year for Brazilian journalists and communicators since monitoring began.

The most frequent episodes last year (61.2% of the total) were those involving stigmatizing speeches. The average was one attack per day in order to demoralize journalists and the press. In 75.7% of the situations, the aggressors were state agents, such as politicians and civil servants.

The second category with the most cases (31.2%) was aggression and attacks, which includes physical violations, destruction of equipment, threats and hostilities. Abraji considered the 102.3% increase in this type of occurrence to be worrying compared to 2021.

The most serious actions peaked after the second round of the elections, coinciding with demonstrations by Bolsonaro supporters against Lula’s victory and the organization of coup camps questioning the result of the election.

At the same time, there was a decrease in the number of milder cases, grouped under the classification of stigmatizing speeches. The association evaluated that, with the result of the election, the violence that was verbal became physical. Electoral coverage was linked to 31.6% of the total attacks in the year.

Monitoring also showed that 41.6% of all attacks in 2022 were carried out by then-president Jair Bolsonaro and his three sons with elected mandates — Flávio, senator (PL-RJ), Eduardo, federal deputy (PL-SP), and Carlos, councilor (Republicanos-RJ).

The report has not yet been able to contact the Bolsonaro defense to comment on the data in the report.

Most of the actions taken by the family involved intimidating speeches and took place on social networks, with preaching to boycott the press and insinuations that vehicles spread fake news.

Jair Bolsonaro also led the ranking of attacks perpetrated by presidential candidates. Of the 51 registered cases, the then representative was involved in 50.1%. Then come postulants Sofia Manzano (PCB), appearing in 15.7% of the episodes, and Padre Kelmon (PTB), in 9.8%.

According to Abraji, no stigmatizing speeches published during the campaign period were identified in the profiles of Lula, Simone Tebet (MDB) and José Maria Eymael (DC).

The profile of the targets shows that men were 62.6% of the victims and women, 43.5%. Against them, the offensive most often includes criticism based on appearance and sexuality.

Monitoring also makes a specific analysis of gender violence suffered by journalists. There were 145 such episodes, an increase of 13.1% compared to 2021. Female professionals accounted for 97% of the victims in this cut, mostly because of political coverage.

Journalists Miriam Leitão, from GloboNews (8 cases), Vera Magalhães, from TV Cultura (8), Daniela Lima, from CNN Brasil (6), and Juliana Dal Piva, from UOL (5), were the most attacked professionals, according to the report. Vera, for example, during a debate was called by Bolsonaro “a shame for journalism”.

For those responsible for the survey, the data show a tendency for women to be targets of threats and embarrassment, with the use of personal and misogynistic offenses.

The entity that compiled the data claims that freedom of the press in Brazil was constantly threatened by anti-democratic acts and speeches over the past year and that the polarized political and social scenario makes the work of journalists in the country more dangerous.

Brazil occupies the 110th position among 180 nations in the press freedom ranking of the NGO Reporters Without Borders released in 2022.

In Abraji’s view, last year marked the consolidation of an unfavorable environment for journalism, which was deepened in previous years, with the attempt to portray the press as an enemy in the popular imagination, using malicious narratives about fake news and partiality.

“Political actors and their supporters create and propagate anti-media discourse that hinders journalistic activity and puts its professionals at constant risk,” the report states.

The association demanded measures from the major social networking platforms for cases of violence against the press, noting that 63.4% of attacks are connected to the virtual environment. The pressure is on companies to establish actions to deal with aggressors and hold them accountable.

The authors of the study make the caveat that the compilation may have divergences with the numbers of other surveys, since other organizations adopt different methodologies.