Brasilia: Brazil registers 82 direct attacks against journalists and communication professionals, which today affects access to quality information since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, reveals the non-governmental organization (NGO) Article 19, Prensa Latina publishes.
Cited by the Rede Brasil Atual portal, the NGO created in 1987 in the United Kingdom warns about two factors: firstly, because in times of crisis the importance of journalistic activity as an effective provider of news about the disease is increasing.
In addition, of the violations against the social function of the press in the South American giant in this period, 72 percent came from the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro or his closest circle.
In a recent study, Article 19 underscores that attacks on the press undermine the fundamental right to free access to information.
It indicates that “the attack on communicators and the media is important in the vulnerability of the Brazilian population to the situation, creating a feeling of mistrust around the information work.”
Therefore, it details, the position of the presidency of the Republic is incompatible with the urgent demand to improve the country’s condition in the face of the crisis aggravated by the pandemic and may have intensified the escalation of preventable deaths.
The study highlights the role of journalistic activity in the midst of the most serious sanitary and public health catastrophe in the history of Brazil, where more than 127 thousand human losses have been recorded so far and close to four million 500 thousand infections by the pathogen.
For the entity, ‘it is undeniable that journalism has an essential role in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, reporting on federal and regional statistics of contamination and deaths, and on the measures to contain the spread of the virus proposed by national and international health organizations’.
Article 19 insists that, in the context of the epidemic, more than ever, it is necessary to guarantee access to information and instruct the public power to fulfill its duties with the population.
It refers that attacks on journalists occur through false news websites and profiles on social networks, which act to discredit the exact information, but Bolsonaro raises the tone and lowers the level.
‘The attacks do not silence the press. But they deteriorate the environment for professional practice in a country already marked by serious crimes against journalists and communicators, ‘denounces Denise Dora, executive director of the NGO.
