Who puts the dog on a leash: Civita or Sirotsky?

Leonardo Attuch_247 – Here's what "leftist" journalists who call themselves "dirty bloggers" might say after reading this article: "Now, just put a P in front and change the name to PIG." Yes, iG, one of the largest internet portals in Brazil, is for sale and has two potential buyers: Roberto Civita, owner of Abril publishing house and editor-in-chief of Veja magazine, and Nelson Sirotsky, president of the RBS group, a partner of Rede Globo in the southern region of Brazil. "PIG," a neologism coined by journalist Paulo Henrique Amorim, himself a former iG employee, designates the so-called "Party of the Coup-Mongering Press." And against PIG there would be the brigade of "dirty bloggers," led, among others, by Amorim himself.

iG is one of the most fascinating cases in the recent history of Brazilian journalism – and it's still searching for a safe harbor. It was born at the turn of the millennium, when the telephone company Brasil Telecom was controlled by banker Daniel Dantas of Opportunity, who hired advertising executive Nizan Guanaes and journalist Matinas Suzuki to "revolutionize Brazilian journalism," as was said at the time. Thus was born the newspaper Último Segundo, directed by Leão Serva, which became one of iG's flagship publications. Nizan and Matinas also ventured into celebrity and sensual photo websites, such as Morango.

In 2005, iG underwent its first radical shift when the pension funds of state-owned companies took control of Brasil Telecom, replacing Daniel Dantas. From that moment on, attacking the former owner became one of the portal's priorities, which hired columnists more aligned with the PT (Workers' Party), but with very different styles, such as Paulo Henrique Amorim, Luís Nassif, and Ricardo Kotscho. And, in the following three years, iG also actively participated in a corporate dispute to determine who would be in charge of the national super-telecom company, the result of the merger between Oi and Brasil Telecom: one wing of the PT defended control by the state pension funds, and another wing advocated handing control over the super-telecom company to the contractor Sérgio Andrade, of Andrade Gutierrez, and the businessman Carlos Jereissati, owner of the Iguatemi shopping mall chain. The campaign donors won.

General cleaning

Advised by journalist Mario Rosa, former editor of Veja and now a consultant focused on crisis management, Carlos Jereissati and Sergio Andrade began assembling the new iG team in 2008. The intention was to depoliticize the portal and professionalize it. Thus, they attracted renowned journalists such as Eduardo Oinegue, former editor-in-chief of Veja, Guilherme Barros, former columnist for Folha, and Luciano Suassuna, former director of Istoé, in addition to several other renowned editors, such as Tales Faria and Jorgemar Félix, in the biggest recent "sweep" of talent in the Brazilian press.

In the 2010 elections, iG also introduced relevant innovations, such as a daily poll of voting intentions, in partnership with the Vox Populi institute. But, after Dilma Rousseff's victory, the portal began to cut its costs. Oinegue left the leadership, which was handed over to journalist Beto Gerosa, and became a consultant for the Andrade-Jereissati duo, as did Mário Rosa. After that, Portugal Telecom entered the controlling block of Oi and began to question the presence of a content group in a telecommunications company. Telephone operators are public service concessionaires and cannot get involved in contentious issues – which journalism often demands.

Now, the task of finding a buyer for iG has been given to executive Pedro Ripper, former president of Cisco, who has contacted potential buyers. Besides the RBS and Abril groups, Yahoo was also approached, but the competition is limited to the first two national groups.

RBS, owned by Nelson Sirotsky, is betting heavily on the internet with its digital edition of Zero Hora, but is still perceived as a predominantly southern Brazilian group. Abril has had several distinct experiences on the internet, and today most of its magazine content is paid and closed, while iG relies on a free and shareable model. But Civita may be changing its strategy towards a more open model.

In any case, the potential sale of iG would mark a separation between content producers and distributors. On one side, the news companies. On the other, the telecommunications operators.