“Beraba is that guy who appears little, but organizes the kitchen of journalism”, said José Roberto de Toledo, executive editor at Piauí magazine and presenter of Foro de Teresina. He refers to Rio de Janeiro journalist Marcelo Beraba, who 20 years ago sent an email to 44 editors and reporters, calling for what would be the beginning of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism) (hug). This Friday (05), Marcelo received a tribute at the 17th Brazilian Congress of Investigative Journalism, in São Paulo.
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20 years without Tim Lopes
Also 20 years ago, on July 5, 2002, the press confirmed that journalist Tim Lopes had been murdered in Complexo do Alemão after being kidnapped and tortured by drug traffickers. Arcanjo, his original name, was 51 years old at the time and was investigating the sexual exploitation of minors in the Vila do Cruzeiro favela.
“My generation had already experienced the torture and murder of Herzog (Vladmir Herzog) by the military”, says Marcelo, remembering other violent deaths of journalists that occurred afterwards. “This story with characters like military police officers, drug traffickers and militiamen is not so far from ours,” he comments.
For Marcelo Beraba, who was very close to Tim Lopes, he said that “it was a year of a lot of crying, indignation” but also marked by “a lot of action”. He says that, until then, the deaths of journalists generated reactions such as letters and notes of repudiation. For him, however, it was necessary to “push harder” for this violence to stop.
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Ironically, 20 years after the Tim case, the Brazil is experiencing an increase in violence against press professionals. In 2022, aggressions (verbal, physical, physical, stalking, etc.) rose 26,9% compared to the same period in 2021.
The e-mail
In this video, Beraba talks about the email sent a few months after the death of journalist Tim Lopes, inviting more than 40 reporters and editors to unite around a professional association: Abraji.
Tim Lopes Program
Created to create a network of practical and solid responses to violence against press professionals, the Tim Lopes Program ensures coverage of cases in a collaborative manner and gives visibility to the reports that may have motivated each crime.
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For Beraba, just as new times bring “more demands” to the quality of journalists’ work, they also call for more protection for the right to freedom of expression and professional practice.
“Permanent professional improvement” is a mandatory function of the profession, according to Beraba. “We won’t have good journalism without good journalists”, he points out.
If he were to give advice to a student or recent graduate in journalism, he would say to never sacrifice the “intellectual honesty” that is essential for him. The journalist honored by Abraji explains: “if you don't know or haven't thoroughly investigated something, don't say or suggest that you know”. To the new generations, he asks them to study “in depth” what they will choose to talk about.
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(Top photo: Érika Yukari)
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*content in other languages was translated via Google Translate
