{"id":30609,"date":"2016-07-18T13:14:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T16:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=30609"},"modified":"2022-07-05T12:30:24","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T15:30:24","slug":"the-best-and-worst-of-pre-olympic-reporting-on-rio-de-janeiros-favelas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=30609","title":{"rendered":"The Best and Worst of Pre-Olympic Reporting on Rio de Janeiro\u2019s Favelas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This is the latest contribution to our media watchdog series on the\u00a0Best and Worst International Reporting on Rio\u2019s favelas<\/a>, part of\u00a0RioOnWatch\u2019s ongoing conversation on the\u00a0media narrative<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0media portrayal<\/a>\u00a0surrounding favelas.<\/em><\/p>\n

With less than three weeks to the start of the 2016 Olympic Games<\/a>, Rio and its favelas are receiving more sustained media attention than ever. It\u2019s an unprecedented opportunity to change the historically stigmatizing narrative around favelas<\/a>, but also brings the risk of further consolidating tired stigmas<\/a>\u00a0in the minds of a global audience.<\/p>\n

Here, we take a look at the best and worst reporting on favelas in the run-up to the Games. Next up in the series, shortly after the Games, we\u2019ll zoom in on the best and worst produced during the Olympics.<\/p>\n

The Worst<\/h3>\n

Unfortunately no stranger to our Worst Reporting list, the Daily Mail<\/em><\/strong> has outdone itself this year with its heavily stigmatizing headlines and language. Across three articles, Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a> is called a \u201cstinking shanty town,\u201d a \u201cterrifying slum,\u201d and a \u201cdangerous no-go zone.\u201d One article<\/a> bathed in Zika hysteria quotes a health worker describing the complex as a \u201cgigantic breeding ground\u201d for the disease. In another article<\/a>, the young boys from Mar\u00e9 who search through debris for recyclables are called \u201crat kids.\u201d Yes, in 2016, the Daily Mail<\/em> has referred to human beings as \u201crat kids.\u201d A third article<\/a> explains shootings, car jackings, and hostage takings on \u201chighway of terror\u201d Avenida Brasil as \u201cterrifying violence\u201d that has \u201cspilled out from favelas.\u201d The Daily Mail<\/em>\u2019s dedicated focus on misery and fear fundamentally misrepresents daily life for most residents of Mar\u00e9<\/a>. Furthermore, apparent concern for Mar\u00e9 residents is diminished\u00a0by the line: \u201cMost alarmingly… the shooter [on Avenida Brasil] and his powerful weapon may still be there when VIPs and sports stars start arriving for the Games\u201d\u2014the author has hence just made explicit his view that lives of Mar\u00e9 residents are not as valuable as those of Olympic “VIPs.”\u00a0With some of the highest online readerships in the world, the Daily Mail<\/em> must do better.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Despite a couple of favela resident perspectives that tackle the crucial discussion of who will benefit from the Olympics, this CNN<\/em> video<\/a> portrays Rio, and particularly its favelas, as a war zone<\/strong>. The video describes favelas as \u201cthe hilltop slums where heavily-armed drug gangs have long held sway,\u201d casually ignoring the facts<\/a> that most\u00a0favelas are not slums<\/a>, most are not on hills and most\u00a0are not controlled by drug gangs. Simple, sweeping definitions like these belie the diversity<\/a> found within and between each Rio favela<\/a>. To interview a gang member CNN<\/em> reports that \u201cunder the cover of darkness\u201d its team \u201cventured into a favela\u201d in the South Zone<\/a>. Residents, tourists, and other journalists have little problem \u201cventuring\u201d into South Zone favelas in the daytime, so it\u2019s unclear why CNN<\/em> sought out the \u201ccover of darkness.\u201d Reporting their venture this way without explanation or caveat is problematic because it gives viewers a gravely exaggerated sense of the daily experience of conflict in Rio\u2019s favelas. And the perpetuation of such stigma produces deadly policies that kill innocent residents<\/a>.\u00a0Mar\u00e9 resident and journalist Thais Cavalcante told NPR<\/em>‘s On the Media<\/a>\u00a0last week that “this kind of coverage,” specifically mentioning sensationalist headlines, “is used to affirm certain policies of the state towards us, often justifying police brutality.”<\/p>\n

This Gizmodo<\/em> article<\/a>\u2019s attention to evictions<\/strong> and argument that \u201cthe poorest areas of Rio will bear the brunt\u201d of negative Olympics impacts are valuable, but the piece contains significant inaccuracies that perpetuate myths about Olympic-driven urban development<\/a>. The author writes that \u201cmany\u201d of Rio\u2019s hundreds of favelas now have cable cars thanks to Olympic transformations. This is simply not true\u2014only two (controversial) cable cars<\/a> currently exist in the city’s favelas, and two have actively fought against<\/a>\u00a0the cable cars in court. She argues Games-boosted foreign favela tourism<\/a> has created \u201csome economic stability,\u201d but there is no evidence from Rio or past Olympics hosts that mega-events have a long-term positive effect on tourism or the economy. (Tourism has grown in favelas in recent years in the context of perceived increased security and relative economic stability, both of which have collapsed ahead of the Olympics.) The author says \u201cRio\u2019s future\u201d is dependent on tourists spending during the Olympics, but any short-term injection of cash won\u2019t address Rio\u2019s systemic problems. These inaccuracies both buy into and further perpetuate the City government\u2019s narrative about the transformative potential of the Games and pre-Olympics development projects, many of which are far less impactful, and in some cases more destructive, than marketing propaganda would suggest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Daily<\/p>\n

A recent CityLab<\/em> article<\/a> merits a mention<\/strong> for combining a title that says the \u201cOlympic Village Will Feed Favelas\u201d with an article that suggests leftovers will go to \u201cneedy residents\u201d of Lapa, which is not a favela. The article later conflates the police violence<\/a> and evictions<\/a> experienced in some favelas with the recipients of the soup kitchen, which risks leading readers to uncritically associate working and middle-class<\/a> favelas with hunger and poverty. The Herald Sun<\/em>, in its continued coverage<\/strong> of how Australian athletes have been banned from visiting<\/a> favelas, has now informed<\/a> the presumably concerned Australian public that 75% of Rio residents live in these neighborhoods, a slight increase on the actual number of around 24%. Finally, articles focused on lists of problems\u00a0with the Rio Olympics often miss the opportunity to highlight issues that have taken a huge long-term toll on Rio\u2019s communities: forced evictions, increased police violence, displacement through gentrification<\/a>, misplaced spending priorities<\/a>, and broken legacy promises<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n

The Best<\/h3>\n

Lulu Garcia-Navarro\u2019s myth-bunking article on the links between poverty and the Zika virus<\/a> for NPR<\/em><\/strong> is an important level-headed analysis responding to the World Health Organization\u2019s warning to visitors to \u201cavoid visiting impoverished and overcrowded areas\u201d during the Rio Olympics. Garcia-Navarro highlights the stigmatization<\/a> in the warning and goes on to make a thorough challenge to the assertion based on scientific studies on mosquito-borne diseases and interviews with researchers in the field. The article successfully argues that visiting favelas carries no greater mosquito-related health risk than any other area of the city and concludes with a Rocinha<\/a> resident\u2019s perspective on the inaccurate, negative information promoted on favelas and the need for people to see the reality instead<\/a>. Supported by relevant and broad scientific research and valuable community perspective, Garcia-Navarro\u2019s piece is a measured and persuasive rebuttal of the WHO’s erroneous advice.<\/p>\n

Johnny Harris\u2019 excellent short documentary \u201c2016 Olympics: What Rio Doesn\u2019t Want the World to See<\/a>\u201d for Vox<\/em><\/strong> gives a comprehensive overview of the Rio Olympic city project and its impact on both favelas and the city as a whole. Combining impressive graphics, maps and shots across the city, Harris exposes the social cleansing<\/a> project and urban remodeling underway in Rio, covering the wall erected to conceal Mar\u00e9, bus route changes<\/a> impeding access and real estate speculation<\/a> and forced evictions<\/a> in Barra da Tijuca<\/a>, with a focus on Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>. Featuring interviews with favela residents and technical specialists, the video is a powerful indictment of the Olympic city project in Rio and how the mega-event is being used to remodel the city for the benefit of temporary visitors and wealthy investors.<\/p>\n