Brazilian Newspaper Reporter Quits, Alleging Censorship

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Action for Freedom — Leave a comment

After the recent controversial firing of journalist Aguirre Peixoto, the newspaper A Tarde is embroiled in another controversy over one of its employees.

Ivete Sangalo

Reporter Emanuella Sombra resigned, Monday, March 28, after disagreeing with edits that were made to her interview with the singer Ivete Sangalo, reported the news site Grande Bahia. According to the journalist, an important part of her article, where the singer spoke about a crisis in the company and a lawsuit involving an ex-employee, was edited out against her will.

The reporter explained she asked that her byline not be attached to the story because of the changes made to it by editor-in-chief Ricardo Mendes, but her request was ignored, which she said motivated her departure.

“To publish a cover story interview with eight inside pages of questions and answers, which, in the eyes of the reader, does not touch on two of the most relevant topics involving the singer (at least the last three months) is an anti-journalism practice which in four years in the profession, I am not accustomed to,” Sombra said.

According to the site Diário Baiano, the newspaper said the content taken out was not an exclusive, and that it contained inconsistencies. Mendes said he respected the reporter’s decision to leave, but that he believed her decision seemed to be more because she didn’t want to remain in the business.

Recently, the newspaper’s journalists went on a strike after the layoff — allegedly because of outside pressure from the real estate industry — of journalist Aguirre Peixoto, who wrote a series of articles about irregularities in the construction of a technology park in Salvador. The journalist later was rehired.