"Edivan made unfounded accusations with the intention of offending the journalists."
The criticism comes from the president of the Sergipe Journalists' Union, Caroline Santos; the organization sent an official letter to the president of the state PTB party, Edivan Amorim, requesting a list of the alleged journalists and media outlets that were "sold out," as he stated in a recent interview; the document was not answered; "it is regrettable to see that some people still think they are in the time of the Military Dictatorship and use a public concession to attack an entire professional category," says the president of the Journalists' Union.
Sergipe 247 – The Journalists' Union of Sergipe – Sindijor/SE – sent an official letter to the state president of the PTB party, Edivan Amorim, requesting a list of journalists and media outlets that are being sold, as he stated on the program Jornal da Ilha, on Ilha FM, on April 12th. In the interviewHe said that "of the three daily newspapers, two are sold to the government." And he was even more aggressive: "The reader needs to make their own assessment when reading a newspaper, website, blog, listening to the radio, or watching TV, because half of the media in Sergipe is sold out."
According to the union, the purpose of the request was to obtain a list of the names of the journalists and newspapers that were sold in order to "take the necessary measures with the Ethics Council of Sindijor and also forward a complaint to the National Federation of Journalists, so that the listed journalists could be called to explain the procedure of 'selling themselves' to this or that politician or political group to produce articles that, according to Amorim, were commissioned." The official letter was sent on April 26th, but no response has been given so far.
The lack of an official response from the president of the PTB demonstrates that his statement in the interview was intended to defame the professional conduct of journalists in Sergipe. What is most serious is that this was done on a radio program, which is a public concession. The Journalists' Union repudiates the actions of Mr. Edivan Amorim. The unfounded accusations were intended to offend the entire professional class of journalists who fulfill their social role of presenting the facts and reporting on the problems that occur in our state,” criticized the president of the Journalists' Union, Caroline Santos.
As the union has already stated in a public statement, regarding the verbal attacks suffered by a journalist, "it is serious to note that politicians and businesspeople believe they have the right to attack media professionals in Sergipe who, in the legitimate exercise of their professional activity, may displease this or that politician (and their group) or businessman."
Caroline emphasizes that "it is regrettable to see that some people still think they are in the era of the Military Dictatorship and use a public concession to attack an entire professional category." The union was slow to comment on the case.