Globo’s duty to report on the Brazilian crisis

David Miranda’s article (The real reason Rousseff’s enemies want to oust her, 22 April) paints a false picture of what is happening in Brazil. It fails to mention that everything began with investigation Operation Carwash, which revealed the largest corruption scandal in the country’s history, involving members of the ruling Workers’ party, as well as leaders of other parties in the government coalition, public servants and business moguls. The entire investigation process has been conducted under the strict supervision of the supreme court.

Globo Group fulfilled their duty to inform and will continue to do so, no matter who may be affected by the investigation.

As a reaction to the revelations of Operation Carwash, millions of Brazilians took to the streets in protest, against and for Ms Rousseff. Precisely to avoid accusations of inciting mass rallies – as Mr Miranda now accuses us – Globo covered the protests without mentioning them prior to them actually taking place, granting both sides the same airtime. When the impeachment proceedings began, we again allocated equal time and space for defence and prosecution.

Globo did not support the impeachment in editorials. It declared that, whatever the outcome, everything had to be conducted according to the constitution, which has been the case thus far. The supreme court – where eight of 11 justices were appointed by the Workers’ party administrations – has approved the entire process. To blame the press for the current Brazilian crisis is to repeat the ancient mistake of blaming the messenger for the message.

Lastly, the assertion that Globo leads the national media can only be made in bad faith. The Brazilian press is a vast and plural landscape of several independent organisations. Everyone competes with great zeal for the audience, which in turn is free to make its choices. Among strong competitors, what one finds is independence, without any tolerance for being led.

Mr Miranda is entitled to say what he wants. With the Globo Group rests the responsibility to report the facts.