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According to an internal statement released on Monday (21) by Globo’s Journalism department, with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, Globo decided that it will only hold debates in the first round of municipal elections where there is an agreement between the parties so that only the four more Candidates well placed in the most recent electoral poll (Ibope or DataFolha) participate in the debates. For the same reasons, study interviews with candidates will not be conducted either.
Below is the statement with all the details, in which Globo guarantees an even more extensive coverage of the elections than in previous years, with thematic topics, addressing with greater intensity those of greater public interest revealed by the investigations:
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, Globo has done everything possible to inform the public about how to avoid contagion by the coronavirus. As they provide an essential service, their journalists have not stopped working, but they follow a strict protocol to avoid getting sick as much as possible.
In planning to cover municipal elections, it was believed that the country would arrive in October with contagion rates under control, which, unfortunately, will not happen. There is another aspect: the high number of candidates for mayor in almost all cities, such as Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, to name just three, with ten or more candidates. This poses great challenges.
To give you an idea, with ten candidates, taking into account that each one can be accompanied by only two advisers (in the past that number was more than ten), there would be 30 people connected to the campaigns in the study in a first round debate. Adding up the Globo team minimally necessary to carry out the event with quality, this figure exceeds 200 people, including journalists, cameras, producers, professionals in the technical control room, technology, communication, operations and security (in a normal debate , with public and guests, is double). There is no health protocol that guarantees the health of Globo professionals and candidates.
Furthermore, the severity of the electoral legislation does not allow Globo to demand that the precautionary measures be complied with (carrying out a series of necessary tests prior to the debate, distance between campaigns in the study, respect for the spaces delimited by acrylic panels, positioning in the study, wearing a mask all the time by assistants). Nor does it allow preventing the candidate from participating in the debate or removing him if he does not comply with the measures. This is serious. A recent official event in Brasilia showed that even precautionary measures, such as acrylic panels separating the authorities, the use of masks and the presence limited to the minimum, did not prevent an outbreak from being attributed to the event.
The alternative of having a remote debate is not possible. Candidates must be treated equally and have the same conditions, and the public must realize that. A candidate can be unfairly accused of having an electronic point, of being assisted by advisers, for example. The broadcast may fall at an important moment in the debate, and Globo will be unfairly accused of being the culprit or, equally, and also unfairly, the candidate or his campaign will be accused of causing the interruption to escape a difficult moment. .
Therefore, Globo decided that it will only hold debates in the first round where there is an agreement between the parties so that only the four best-placed candidates in the last electoral poll (Ibope or DataFolha) participate in the debates. Globo will fight for this agreement. The debate in the second round follows the program.
Likewise, no study interviews will be conducted with candidates. The characteristic of these interviews is that they have the same times for everyone and the same degree of difficulty. They are held on many consecutive days, with the candidates sitting close to the interviewers and cameras. And candidates come to them with advisers. It is impossible to know the level of exposure of candidates to the virus during a campaign. How they interact with voters on the streets cannot be guaranteed. Globo studios are highly controlled environments to avoid contagion from their professionals. The risk of subjecting your teams to the coronavirus for days followed by contacts with candidates who are permanently exposed to the street is very high. For the same reasons listed in the discussions, they cannot be held remotely.
These measures are valid for the four Globo stations (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Recife where elections are held) and recommended to all their affiliates, who follow the same protocol.
Apart from these points, Globo will cover the elections even more extensively than in previous years, with thematic topics, addressing with greater intensity those of greater public interest revealed by the investigation, it will scrutinize the candidates’ plans, their viability and how they intend to achieve them, the controversial points of each application, listening daily to the candidates on the topics discussed, but in a safe way. And it will publish the electoral polls of Ibope and / or DataFolha.
Journalism will do what it has done throughout this pandemic: offer quality information, but following all health protocols. And you need to set an example. You can’t charge others for what you don’t do for yourself. “
