After Bolsonaro attacks newspaper, ANJ 'outlines' the role of the press.
After President Jair Bolsonaro launched a new attack on the press by stating in an interview with TV Bandeirantes that "the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper is the source of all evil," the Brazilian News Agency (ANJ) released a statement condemning the declaration; "In addition to presenting the account of facts and the multiplicity of viewpoints, it is the mission of the press to monitor and oversee the actions of the powers and public authorities," the statement says; "Essential for democracy, journalism is a source of information for citizens, and not an enemy to be fought," it concludes.
247 - After President Jair Bolsonaro launched a new attack on the press by stating in an interview with TV Bandeirantes that "the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper is the source of all evil," the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ) released a statement condemning the declaration. "In addition to presenting factual accounts and a multiplicity of viewpoints, it is the mission of the press to monitor and oversee the actions of the powers and public authorities," the ANJ statement reads. "Essential for democracy, journalism is a source of information for citizens, not an enemy to be fought," another excerpt from the text states.
Bolsonaro's attack on Folha de S. Paulo occurred during an interview with presenter José Luiz Datena, who questioned the president's praise of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. "There was no mention of Pinochet, dictatorship, or anything in Chile. Show me an audio, a video to that effect. There was nothing of the sort. The press, maliciously, a newspaper publishes, writes... Usually Folha de S. Paulo starts everything. Every source of evil is Folha de S. Paulo," Bolsonaro stated. (Read more at...) Brazil 247)
According to the newspaper, Bolsonaro's statement was made in 2015, when he was still a federal deputy. At the time, he stated that the Chilean dictatorship "did what had to be done because there were more than 30 Cubans inside Chile, so it had to be done violently to reconquer their country."
Check out the full text of the ANJ statement.
The National Association of Newspapers regrets President Jair Bolsonaro's statement that "the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper is the source of all evil." In the interview where he attacked the newspaper, the president also made generic criticisms of journalism, once again demonstrating a lack of understanding regarding the role of the press.
In addition to presenting factual accounts and a multiplicity of perspectives, it is the mission of the press to monitor and oversee the actions of public authorities and government bodies.
Essential to democracy, journalism is a source of information for citizens, not an enemy to be fought. Brasília, March 28, 2019.