Social Communication Council denounces violence against journalists and broadcasters

Violence

Representative of journalists at CCS, said that violence against press professionals “is everyday”

Researchers and press workers denounced, this Monday (3), the increase in the number of cases of violence against communication professionals in Brazil. They participated in a public hearing promoted by the Social Communication Council (CCS) of the National Congress.

Counselor Maria José Braga, representative of journalists at the CCS, said that violence against press professionals “is a daily occurrence”.

“Communication professionals suffer daily violence in the exercise of their profession. Violence that is characterized as attempts to impede professional practice and restrict the free circulation of journalistic information. They are, therefore, attempts to curtail the right of citizens to information, which is essential for the exercise of citizenship”

he stated.

For Samira de Castro, president of the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj), Brazil experienced “a peak of violence” against communication professionals in the four years of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s term. In 2022 alone, according to the leader, there were 376 cases of aggression.

“In 2022, we had the end of a cycle in which violence was perpetrated mainly by the central executive branch, with the discrediting of the press. As of 2019, a new type of violence was inaugurated, which constitutes the stigmatization of the press and journalistic activity. For some, it may seem that discrediting the press is confused with criticizing journalism. But it is more serious: it denies all the foundations of activity.”

he said.

Professor Rogério Christofoletti, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, classifies violence against communication professionals as “diverse, repetitive, constant and permanent”. For the researcher, Jair Bolsonaro’s mandate was marked by “state violence” against journalists.

“It was exercised not only by the President of the Republic, but also by other State bodies, such as the Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Police. When you have State apparatuses trying to frame, constrain and impede the work of journalists, there is State violence. It is unpunished violence, and impunity fuels crime.”

he stated.

For Christofoletti, violence against journalists is not a corporate problem, but a threat to society.

“Every time journalists are questioned, stopped, cursed, offended or attacked by an authority or a powerful businessman, at the end of the chain, citizens are prevented from knowing what is going on. This is a problem for all of us. Journalism is the social instrument for debate, for the supervision of the Powers and for the search for collective and peaceful solutions for society”

he said.

Radio broadcaster Ricardo Ortiz, leader of the Interstate Federation of Broadcasting and Television Workers (Fitert), assesses that the increase in violence in 2022 “was deadly for members of the press”. He recalled that, according to the organization Repórter Sem Fronteiras, Brazil is in ninth place in the ranking of the most violent countries against press professionals. Of the 1,688 deaths in the profession registered around the world between 2003 and 2022, Brazil accounts for 42 cases.

“Among the multiple forms of violence used to threaten journalists are enforced disappearances, kidnappings, arbitrary detentions, harassment and digital violence, particularly against women. It’s fact. We now need to come up with solutions.”

charged.

Lawyer Taís Gasparian is the founder and director of Instituto TornaVoz, an entity that pays for legal defense expenses for journalists prosecuted in the civil area. She said that, in addition to physical aggression, communication professionals in Brazil are victims of “procedural violence”: the use of judicial processes to prevent journalists from investigating and publishing stories.

“Judicial harassment occurs when there is an abuse of the right of action, with the specific purpose of curbing criticism. This constitutes extremely widespread aggression: lawsuits brought by powerful individuals or companies that intimidate journalists and communicators, forcing them to abandon their investigations. In some cases, just the threat of prosecution is enough to have the desired effect: preventing the publication of a journalistic article”

explains.

The CCS meeting was chaired by counselor Patrícia Blanco, representative of civil society. This Monday afternoon, the agency is analyzing a proposal to hold a public hearing on the impacts of artificial intelligence on social communication.

*With information from the Senate Agency

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