Violence against journalist grows in 2022, says report – 05/10/2023 – Politics

Driven by coup demonstrations against the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) over Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the race for president, cases of physical violence against journalists rose 38% in 2022 in Brazil.

The year was also marked by the murders of journalist Dom Phillips, in the Vale do Javari region, and of Givanildo Oliveira da Silva, a communicator who worked in Fortaleza.

The data are part of the annual report on “Violations of Freedom of Expression”, released this Wednesday (10) by Abert (Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters).

The document shows a 6% drop in cases of non-lethal violence against the press from 2021 to 2022. The number of records of physical aggression, however, increased from 34 to 47.

This type of violence is the most frequent among those recorded by the 2022 report. In the previous year, episodes of offenses occupied this position.

The document states that most of the attacks took place after the second round, during coverage of coup acts mobilized by supporters of then-president Bolsonaro in front of barracks, against the election result.

Almost 64% of physical aggressions occurred in states in the Southeast and South. Television professionals and coverage of political issues were the main targets.

“Punches, kicks, pushes, slaps, scratches” were the forms of aggression in 18 cases. Journalists were even stoned on 4 occasions, and 18 cases were classified as “other” types of violence.

In total, 137 cases of non-lethal violence were recorded, with at least 212 professionals and media outlets involved.

In addition to physical violence, the report points out episodes of offenses (28 cases), intimidation (25), threats (19), attacks/vandalism (5), sexual harassment (4), injuries (3), attacks (2), censorship (2), kidnapping (1) and robbery/theft (1).

“Once again the data registered by the report are alarming”, says the president of Abert, Flávio Lara Resende.

In 2022, politicians and public office holders were the main perpetrators of offenses to the press.

Of the 12 occurrences of offenses against female journalists, four were directed at Vera Magalhães, presenter of TV Cultura. She was called a “shame on Brazilian journalism” by Bolsonaro, during a debate shown on Band in August 2022.

“In all, 28 cases of offenses were registered and, despite the 47% reduction compared to 2021 in the number of records and 46% in the number of victims —it fell from 89 to 48—, there is no reason to celebrate”, says the report.

Brazil again recorded murders of journalists for exercising their profession in 2022.

“The deaths of British journalist and contributor to The Guardian newspaper, Dom Phillips, during a report with testimonies on the constant conflicts between indigenous peoples and prospectors and loggers who operate illegally in the Javari Valley, in Atalaia do Norte (AM), and of Givanildo Oliveira da Silva, who was killed after reporting the arrest of a suspect in a double homicide in Fortaleza (CE), joined the statistics that confirm Brazil as one of the most dangerous countries for the practice of journalism”, says the report.

Cases of sexual harassment reappeared in the document about 2022. There were four records, three of them against female journalists who covered sports in the Southeast.

In addition to kisses without consent, anonymous messages and videos of a sexual nature were sent to the communicators, the report shows.

According to the document, former President Bolsonaro and his supporters were once again protagonists in attacks against journalists on social networks.

“In 2022, attacks on the press by allies of then-president Jair Bolsonaro reached 1.32 million posts, a 6% reduction compared to the previous year, when they reached 1.4 million criticisms published on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram”, states the document.

“Even so, in 2022, the Brazilian press suffered 3,600 attacks per day, 150.7 per hour or 2.51 attacks per minute, with pejorative and low-slang words against professionals and communication vehicles”, he says. the text.

According to the report, part of the drop in virtual attacks on the press was due to “society’s reaction” in defense of the role of journalism for democracy. Another factor was the migration of Bolsonarist attacks to private message groups, “difficult to map on a large scale such as social networks”.

The document also includes 20 judicial decisions related to the press, 11 of which are favorable to journalists.