Época produces 'journalism meant to be forgotten'
"How long should a cover story in a weekly news magazine last? Theoretically, a week, considering that the periodicity of a publication determines the level of depth of the topics covered in each edition, in order to maintain the interest of a large number of readers and make them look forward to the news in the next edition," says Luciano Martins Costa, from the Observatório da Imprensa (Press Observatory), commenting on Época's recent accusation against Lula, which failed in its attempt; "Strictly speaking, the matter began to die on the same day it was launched."
Journalism best forgotten.
It is for this reason that, worldwide, magazines are the most vulnerable medium among traditional publications when confronted with digital media. The most recent study by the ZenithOptimedia agency, which evaluates the effectiveness of marketing and advertising investments, paints a devastating picture for them. media traditional, in the short term.
Projections regarding the distribution of advertising budgets between 2014 and 2017 show that mobile internet will evolve very rapidly, while fixed platforms, such as pay TV, newspapers, and magazines, will enter a period of slow growth or stagnation.
Interestingly, Brazil is identified as one of the countries with the potential to rise in the rankings. ranking Brazil holds the record for the largest investments in advertising, occupying the sixth position on a list that includes, just above it, the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and England.
The scenario is quite different from what executives of major Brazilian media companies claim, as can be read in an article published in the Tuesday (5/5) edition of Folha de S. Paul by the president of the National Association of Newspapers (see hereIn this article, the executive celebrates the fact that some of the biggest internet companies, such as Google, Facebook, and Apple, have increased their advertising on television, billboards, and newspapers.
The scenario he described refers mainly to the United States and England, where these major players in the digital world have adopted the strategy of linking their services to the credibility of some traditional titles with a greater global presence, such as... New York Times,Financial Times e The GuardianThe next step will be to appropriate the informative and opinion-based content scattered across the internet and start anchoring it for former newspaper and magazine readers.
Accusations, suspicions, research
Why else would the giants of the digital world use traditional media? The president of ANJ is right when he says that "the large companies of the brave new world of communication seek traditional media to consolidate the brands they have built with such competence." Gaining the trust of readers of good newspapers is the easiest and quickest way to close the cycle, adding the large audience brought by the horizontal relationship between users to the credibility of the best press brands.
But, be warned: the usefulness of traditional media is limited precisely by its credibility. So, getting back to the cold hard facts and the decline of magazines in this highly competitive landscape, let's illustrate how the cover story of... Time, cited in this space on Monday (see “Journalism falteringThis is journalism best forgotten.
How long did the magazine's run last, considering its main theme, which accused former President Lula da Silva of engaging in international influence peddling in favor of the construction company Odebrecht?
Strictly speaking, the matter began to die down on the same day as the launch, with a clarification from the Lula Institute stating that it had answered the magazine's questions on Thursday (April 30), before the holiday, an explanation that was later expanded on the entity's website (see here).
On Tuesday (5), the State St. Paul (see here The digital version (with a different title from the print edition) publishes a text stating that the Federal Public Prosecutor responsible for the case affirms that there is no evidence against Lula and that she is not considering taking measures such as breaking confidentiality, considering that the report that gave rise to the preliminary procedure is considered an anonymous tip.
The issue was initially raised by the newspaper. The Globe, in April, and later explored by the magazine Time (see hereNext, the Globe obtains statements from opposition politicians saying that the report will justify support for a proposed parliamentary inquiry to investigate the BNDES, which allegedly favored Odebrecht (here).
The scheme is the usual one: produce a false narrative, attract the interest of a member of the Public Prosecutor's Office, and then publish new reports, already presenting the matter as an official subject of investigation.
The best analysis of this practice of partisan journalism can be seen in the cartoon by the cartoonist Laerte (see here), at SheetHow to sow accusations, water them with suspicion, and reap the harvest with research.