Nominated for Communication by Lula, he asked the press for a boycott – 02/10/2023 – Panel

Appointed to a new position in the Social Communication Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Professor João Feres Jr., from Uerj (State University of Rio de Janeiro), asked in an article from March 2016 that academics boycott the “mainstream media”.

At the time, the country was experiencing the height of the process that would lead to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff (PT).

In a text published on the GGN website, Feres stated that he did not see exemption from the press and therefore would no longer give interviews or collaborate with articles.

“The assault on Brazilian democracy sponsored by the Brazilian mainstream media is sizeable, its willingness to distort facts and versions so pronounced, its reactionary political adherence so blatant, its insistence on always listening to only one side of the dispute, or dishonestly underrepresenting the legalist opinion, his incitement to fascist and coup social movements, that I decided to say enough is enough,” he wrote.

At the Lula government’s Secom, Feres will head the Analysis, Strategy and Articulation Secretariat, with the mission of collecting data and defining the best way to apply them in communication strategies, in articulation with other ministries. He will work under minister Paulo Pimenta.

At Uerj, the professor coordinates Gemaa (Affirmative Action Multidisciplinary Studies Group) and Lemep (Media and Public Space Studies Laboratory).

In the 2016 article, Feres states that “collaborating with the big reactionary media these days is a reason for shame. Those who still do that are collaborating with the attack on democracy initiated by these means”.

He ends the text by asking academics to cancel “all subscriptions to newspapers and magazines that they have at home or at their institutions”.

In contact with the Panel, the professor says he no longer has the same position. “These are different contexts. At that time, the mainstream press dedicated very biased coverage in favor of Lava Jato and Dilma’s impeachment. I think that in hindsight, both Lava Jato and impeachment had disastrous consequences for our democracy,” he declared.

He states that he no longer defends the boycott of the press, and as an example he cites the fact that he recently published an article in Folha itself.

“I no longer have the same position. The contexts change, and the positions of the press and mine as well”, he said.

Secom was approached, but did not manifest itself until the publication of this text.

PRESENT LINK: Did you like this text? Subscriber can release five free hits of any link per day. Just click the blue F below.