Journalist Paulo Henrique Amorim, presenter of TV Record and owner of the blog Conversa Afiada, gave a lecture this Monday morning (5) in the auditorium of the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) at Unicamp, at the invitation of professors Daniela Birman and Ricardo Melo. PHA, as it is known, came to the University to address the topic “The history of journalism in Brazil and media manipulation”. He spoke about several episodes related to the subject, offering details of who witnessed some of them.
PHA addressed the issue based on the notes he made as a reporter while covering economic and political issues, both in Brazil and abroad. Records are part of the book The fourth estate – Another story, launched by him in November 2015. The work against the trajectory of the media in the country, from the Vargas era to the present day. Throughout the talk, the journalist made considerations about the unorthodox relations between the media and power.
According to him, negotiations between Grupo Globo and different Brazilian governments, including the military, have always been marked by the exchange of favors. “During José Sarney’s presidency [1985 to 1990], for example, Globo’s collaboration went further. Doctor Roberto Marinho co-governed the country. It was he, for example, who chose Maílson da Nóbrega to occupy the Ministry of Finance”, he stated. Still on the relationship between Globo and power, PHA cited a phrase attributed to Roberto Marinho: “Globo is what it is more because of what it didn't give than because of what it did”.
Throughout his speech, PHA also drew attention to what he classified as a “risk to democracy and individual freedoms”. According to him, the military intervention in the security area of Rio de Janeiro is a kind of pilot project for a broader action, of the same order, in the country as a whole.
