Lula did not mock fired journalists, institute responds.
The organization calls a story published by journalist Josias de Souza, from UOL, a "lie." The article stated that the former president "mocked the 440 dismissals of journalists" during a speech at the PT Congress in Salvador. "Lula denounced the bosses of the press, who are firing journalists en masse because they are unable to face the crisis in the sector and are passing the burden onto the workers," responds the press office of the Lula Institute, publishing the PT member's full statement.
247 - Former President Lula did not mock journalists who were fired during his speech at the PT Congress in Salvador, stated the press office of the Lula Institute, which calls a text by blogger Josias de Souza, from UOL, which accuses Lula of having made "mockery of 440 dismissals of journalists," a "lie."
"To say that Lula 'celebrated' or 'mocked' the layoffs is just another lie against the former president in the Brazilian press," says the institute's statement, according to which "Lula denounced the owners of the press, who lay off journalists en masse because they are unable to face the crisis in the sector and pass the bill on to the workers. This is an issue that newspapers hide from their readers."
The text also includes "the correct quote from Lula's speech" on the subject. See below:
"Proportionally to its small size, the sector that is laying off the most people in Brazil today is the press. This year alone, we've had 50 journalist layoffs at Folha de S. Paulo, 120 at Globo, 100 at Estadão, 50 at Band, and 120 at Editora Abril. This publisher, which publishes the most sordid magazine in this country, had to give up half of its headquarters building and had to sell or close 20 magazine titles. And we have entire media groups for sale. It seems that people don't want to continue reading the lies they publish. These companies, which attack our government so much, are incapable of managing their own crisis without shifting the burden onto the backs of the workers. And they think they can teach us how to govern a country with more than 200 million inhabitants."