The agenda of the rebellion in Paraná that the news ignored.
Teachers in Paraná demonstrated organization and unity in rejecting measures proposed by Governor Beto Richa, which would severely impact the quality of public schools in Paraná; however, what actually occurred was an indecent downplaying of the news coverage of the Curitiba uprising, whose images were omitted from the front page of almost all newspapers, and shameful coverage in the inside pages.
by Carta Maior Editorial Staff
Teachers in Paraná demonstrated organization and unity in rejecting measures proposed by Governor Beto Richa.
Last Thursday, Curitiba, the capital of Paraná state, witnessed a rebellion unlike any seen in the state for a long time. The state is currently governed by Beto Richa, a member of the PSDB party, who was re-elected in 2014.
Thousands of striking teachers and public employees surrounded the State Legislative Assembly to prevent deputies from entering and the day's session from taking place. The main issue was a substantial austerity package that would severely impact the quality of public schools and the salaries of teachers in Paraná.
Beto Richa's support base, celebrated by the conservative media as a "promising member of the PSDB party" after his first-round reelection last year, managed to reach the building by traveling in an armored, escorted bus that used the building's rear entrance.
The incident only heightened tensions outside.
From that point on, the police force that was pouring bombs, batons, and gas on the protesters realized that the revolt would hardly be contained without bloodshed, should the crowd decide to storm the building.
Cornered by the seething human anthill, the PSDB governor backed down and withdrew the package from the agenda. He immediately called the demonstrators celebrating in the streets of the Paraná capital "troublemakers" without lowering the siege at the Assembly.
If it were in Ukraine, or in the war-torn Pakistan, or even in the Congo, in Argentina, or better yet, if there had been a similar siege at the government palace in Caracas, perhaps in Havana, how would the unbiased media and its brainwashed, reactionary columnists react?
I would publish five-column photo spreads on the front page of newspapers and provide extra coverage for television news broadcasts during live events.
In a state of shock, however, after one of their protégés was run over, what actually happened was an indecent softening of the news coverage of the Curitiba uprising, whose images were omitted from the front page of almost all newspapers, and shameful coverage inside.
Folha, deservedly, stands as a paradigm of this norm. Alongside a photo of Pizzolato getting into a car in Italy, it gave a brief account of the popular explosion in Curitiba on the front page. And only on page eight did it return to the subject with a bureaucratic coverage, in which it did not even inform the reason for the revolt and the demand of the protesters: to prevent the dismantling of public schools by a governor from the PSDB party.
To fill this deliberate information gap, read here The statement outlining the many reasons for the Paraná Teachers' Union's actions.