{"id":50187,"date":"2019-01-07T17:59:25","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T20:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=50187"},"modified":"2023-08-23T12:20:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T15:20:27","slug":"best-and-worst-international-reporting-on-rios-favelas-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=50187","title":{"rendered":"Best and Worst International Reporting on Rio\u2019s Favelas: 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Por<\/strong>tugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/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\u00a0<\/em>RioOnWatch\u2019s ongoing conversation on the\u00a0media narrative<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0media portrayal<\/a>\u00a0surrounding favelas.<\/em><\/p>\n

Looming large in the international media’s coverage of favelas in 2018 were three highly consequential events: the military intervention in Rio<\/a>, the assassination of Rio city councilor Marielle Franco<\/a>, and the 2018 Brazilian general election<\/a>. As such, human rights (or more precisely, the dismissal and violation thereof) featured prominently in coverage across publications\u2014several of which insightfully navigated complex issues, pushing the conversation forward in productive ways, while others confounded understandings of Rio\u2019s violence and fell back on predictable stereotypes<\/a> in the absence of discerning analysis.<\/p>\n

Without underestimating the gravity of these three momentous events in Brazil\u2019s history, it\u2019s worth pointing out the relative vacuum of coverage on other topics\u2014meaning that narratives of violence and the general preoccupation with public security heavily saturated the 2018 media landscape. That said, at this critical moment in Brazil<\/a>, the centrality of violence in the international media isn\u2019t exactly misplaced. With favelas increasingly subject to policies of repression, it is absolutely essential to maintain a spotlight on human rights abuses and alert the international community to these violations. However, the single emphasis on violence (and its sensational portrayal for audience consumption<\/a>) often leads to the further entrenchment of existing stigmas and misperceptions<\/a> of favelas as intrinsically violent and criminal urban spaces with little of value. Sensational representations of violence were not the only misconstructions observed in the cohort of favela-centric articles this year; notable were several in-depth pieces from reputable publications hinged on specious arguments.<\/p>\n

Rather than the 24-hour (negative) news cycle that inundates our social media feeds and lives\u2014oftentimes leading to audience disengagement and desensitization, rather than empowerment and action\u2014there needs to be a shift to\u00a0positive news and solutions journalism<\/a>. With this in mind, prominently featured in this list are articles that highlight inspiring community organizers and favela-based initiatives actively working to deconstruct damaging stigmas that are frequently associated with favelas.<\/p>\n

This work is as necessary as ever, as stigmatizing language remains pervasive\u2014hindering productive conversations about favelas. Terming favelas \u201cslums\u201d and \u201cshantytowns\u201d is lazy, unnecessary, and inconsistent with their reality. Despite chronic underinvestment in basic services, favelas are, by and large, culturally vibrant communities that are central to the city’s economy<\/a> and home to a predominantly middle-class population<\/a>. The negative consequences of favela stigma are not just a theory: prejudiced one-sided narratives of favelas, as sites of poverty defined by precarity and violence, pose concrete barriers to inclusion for residents by encouraging the very policies of repression and neglect that give rise to (and perpetuate) the stigmatization of favelas. As such, we have long urged the international media to introduce nuance<\/a> in their reporting on favelas,\u00a0#StopFavelaStigma<\/a> and simply call them favelas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here, we take a look at the best and worst international reporting on favelas of 2018.<\/p>\n

Best Reporting <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Military Intervention<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The\u00a0Huffington Post<\/em>\u00a0tactfully situates<\/a> the current military intervention in Rio in the context of a repressive public security apparatus over a decade in the making. In crafting his argument, the author carefully couches each claim in reliable data and compelling personal testimony from human rights groups, politicians, and most importantly, favela residents. Interviewed for the piece, community journalist and Mar\u00e9<\/a> resident Gizele Martins<\/a> describes the government\u2019s misplaced priorities in delivering tanks rather than social services to her community: \u201cIn our history, we\u2019ve had one soldier for every 55 inhabitants, but we never had a doctor or a teacher for every 55 inhabitants.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Guardian<\/em> consistently provided some of the best and most nuanced coverage of the military intervention in Rio. For instance, recounting the narrative of a family whose lives were interrupted by the violent death of 21-year-old M\u00e1rcio Sabino, this Guardian<\/em> article effectively contextualizes<\/a> a grave act of personal violence in structural problems that the military intervention fails to uproot. In addition to exposing human rights abuses committed by police and the military,\u00a0The<\/em>\u00a0Guardian <\/em>provided\u00a0excellent coverage on the militia<\/a>, a paramilitary organization composed of off-duty or retired police officers and firefighters with extensive reach in Rio\u2019s West Zone\u00a0whose members include individuals implicated in the assassination<\/a> of Marielle Franco.<\/p>\n

Marielle\u2019s Legacy<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As word of Marielle\u2019s assassination reverberated around the world, the mere quantity of articles produced on the topic attests to the magnitude of her legacy. The Intercept <\/em>consistently stood out for its nuanced, in-depth reporting of Marielle\u2019s life, death, and legacy. This Intercept<\/em> report offers a window<\/a> into the deeply flawed security apparatus that Marielle sought to upend, focusing on one of her final projects: denouncing the deaths of black youth from favelas. Carefully detailing what is known about their lives and deaths and highlighting the solidarity movement that was ignited in the wake of Marielle’s murder, the article represents activist-journalism at its best: implicitly tasking readers to say these victims\u2019 names and refuse to let the ideals that Marielle represented die with her.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Amid a media frenzy in the aftermath of Marielle\u2019s assassination, also in\u00a0The Intercept<\/em>,\u00a0Glenn Greenwald cautions<\/a> of the Brazilian national media\u2019s attempt to \u201cwhitewash and exploit Marielle\u2019s political radicalism\u201d\u2014drawing an analogy to the tactics employed by the U.S. media to erase Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s true legacy as a radical political disruptor. While recognizing the significance of Marielle\u2019s prominence in the Brazilian mainstream media, Greenwald poignantly identifies the distortion of her life and legacy in Brazil’s\u00a0Globo<\/em>\u2019s narrative\u2014one that shrouds the deeply political nature of the brutal assassination of a tireless human rights activist determined to change power structures. American activist Shaun King’s piece for\u00a0<\/a>The Intercept\u00a0<\/em>also constitutes an insightful contribution to the conversation,\u00a0drawing astute parallels between police violence in the U.S. and Brazil<\/a> and pointing to the urgency of cultivating international solidarity, \u201cconnect[ing] our struggles in the U.S. to those in Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracing Marielle’s trajectory from Mar\u00e9 to the Rio de Janeiro City Council,\u00a0Next City<\/em> details several of her key policy proposals<\/a> and positions. City Lab<\/em>\u00a0aptly situates the military intervention<\/a> in the context of the very systems that Marielle dedicated her life to fighting: institutionalized racism and the criminalization of poverty<\/a>. Writing for\u00a0Americas Quarterly<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Theresa Williamson\u2014founder and executive director of Catalytic Communities*\u2014highlights the fortitude and resolve of the community leaders determined to continue Marielle\u2019s struggle against the systematic violation of favela residents\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n

Finally, this TIME\u00a0<\/em>feature<\/a>\u2014<\/i>granting\u00a0Marielle\u2019s mother Marinete da Silva\u00a0space to reflect on her daughter\u2019s memory on her own terms in a major international publication\u2014is not to be missed. Silva\u2019s message is one of both loss and hope. Devastated by the deafening silence on the part of authorities in response to her daughter\u2019s murder and yet empowered by the solidarity generated in the wake of trauma, she describes: \u201cI feel Marielle\u2019s presence in every gesture of solidarity\u2014solidarity that leads to the hope of clarifying what motivated someone to commit such an atrocity that night. Marielle worked to hold the system to account and it bothered people that she was a black woman from the favela who dared to be in a space that has not historically been occupied by people like her.\u201d<\/p>\n

2018 Elections<\/strong><\/h4>\n

One such manifestation of solidarity was the proliferation of favela candidates<\/a> determined to claim spaces from which they have historically been barred during the landmark 2018 elections. While a great deal of coverage centered on the narrative of a \u201ctropical Trump<\/a>\u201d on the rise and the prevalence of fake news<\/a>, Bloomberg<\/a>,<\/em> The Guardian<\/a><\/em>, and Okay Africa<\/a><\/em> produced excellent profiles on new faces of the resistance\u2014black female candidates from favelas. OZY also\u00a0featured<\/a> the emergence of new platforms for representation, such as the explicitly favela-centric political party Frente Favela Brasil (Favela Front Brazil).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, providing a nuanced analysis of the political ascent of the far-Right and debunking common misperceptions surrounding the president-elect\u2019s popularity among low-income and favela populations, Matthew Richmond\u2019s contribution to\u00a0Jacobin<\/em><\/a> is a must-read.<\/p>\n

Positive News<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Na Ponta do P\u00e9s<\/a> (\u201cOn Tiptoe\u201d)\u2014a ballet project in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>, in Rio’s North Zone\u2014takes center stage in Vice<\/em>‘s short film\u00a0Ballet and Bullets: Dancing Out of the Favela<\/i><\/a>. While the title flirts with sensationalism, both the film and Vice<\/em>‘s accompanying\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0attest to the role of favelas as vibrant cultural incubators\u2014recognizing favelas\u2019 \u201cstrong tradition of civic action\u201d and pointing to the \u201cpower of culture as a force for resistance and change<\/a>,\u201d particularly in the current political climate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/em> beautifully features<\/a> yet another inspiring community-based dance project, Ballet Manguinhos<\/a>. Foregrounding ballet as a diversion from students’ daily realities in a chronically disinvested community, the author highlights the transformative potential of dance as a gateway to social and political consciousness\u2014highlighting project coordinator Daiana Ferreira de Oliveira\u2019s staging of a transgressive performance<\/a> intended to indict authorities for their denial of favela residents\u2019 right to culture.<\/p>\n

The Guardian <\/em>celebrates<\/a> Rocinha<\/a>\u00a0resident Geovani Martins\u2019 critically acclaimed fictional short story collection The Sun on My Head<\/em><\/a>. Praising Martins\u2019 tactful and nuanced handling of issues of racism and violence<\/a>, the article describes that \u201cin the hands of a lesser author,\u201d these narratives \u201ccould be grim and relentless. But Martins turns them into tense, colourful snapshots of the life in these bustling communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/a><\/p>\n

Representing yet another window into the diverse creative expressions born in favelas is Geoff Levy\u2019s film<\/a> Resistance: Rio\u2019s Different Face of Fashion\u2014<\/em>included in\u00a0The Atlantic’s\u00a0<\/em>curated selection<\/a> of short documentaries. The film itself tackles favela stigma head-on, highlighting community modeling agency Jacar\u00e9 Moda<\/a>\u2014based in Jacarezinho<\/a>, in Rio\u2019s North Zone. The Atlantic<\/em>\u2019s brief curatorial note lauds the \u201cthe community\u2019s resourceful ethos\u201d and recognizes the transformative power of community-based initiatives like Jacar\u00e9 Moda\u2014expanding the horizon of possibilities for black youth from favelas and peripheries in introducing them to an industry sorely lacking representation. In the words of Natalia Sant\u2019anna, a model featured in the film: \u201cWhen we tell people we\u2019re from the favela, they automatically think of danger, violence, mess, or worthlessness\u2026 Of course, there are bad things, but there are a lot of great things, too. It\u2019s a magical world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, City Lab<\/em> highlighted Rio\u2019s burgeoning sustainability movement<\/a> in favelas by featuring community garden initiatives in South Zone communities Vidigal<\/a> and Cantagalo<\/a>\u2014initiatives that yield not only organic produce but also healthy environments and community pride.<\/p>\n

Worst Reporting<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The AP<\/em>‘s\u00a0coverage<\/a> of\u00a0Romario de Souza Faria<\/a>\u2019s gubernatorial bid stands out for its especially egregious claims, stigmatizing language, and generic characterizations of favelas as sites of violence dominated by parallel powers and of the former soccer star\u2019s welcome in \u201cthe favelas\u201d (no specific favela of Rio’s over 1000 favela communities is named) where \u201cwomen blew kisses from improvised balconies on their shacks, and men armed with assault weapons waved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In a photo essay chock-full of descriptive and uncritical captions, British tabloid\u00a0The Sun<\/em>\u00a0fails to contextualize<\/a> the intentionally evocative carnival performance by samba school Beija Flor as an act of political theater<\/a> denouncing failed public security policies. One caption reads: \u201cSlums it up…This shocking float features a mini favela complete with gun-toting gangsters.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Dis)honorable mentions include\u00a0this\u00a0Agence France-Presse<\/em> report<\/a>, picked up by Yahoo News<\/em>, which typecasts favelas as \u201ccrime-ridden slums\u201d and sugarcoats Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) as \u201cpeace units;\u201d\u00a0this Rio Times<\/em> article<\/a>, which propagates the misleading narrative that favelas enjoyed \u201cpeace and prosperity\u201d under the control of UPPs in advance of the mega-events; and this Urdu Point <\/em>article<\/a>, which opens with the assertion that favelas are \u201ccrime-plagued,\u201d followed by a vastly oversimplified account of the military intervention.<\/p>\n

Room for Improvement<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At first glance, Reuters<\/em> tells a tale<\/a> of community-led change in the face of government neglect, focusing on land tenure challenges in the favela of Canaa in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, in Rio’s North Zone. Despite its promise, the article is rife with stigmatizing language\u2014reducing the inspiring community leader at the center of the story to a caricature in dubbing her a \u201cslum \u2018warrior\u2019\u201d and insisting upon the community\u2019s precarity in deeming it a \u201cramshackle settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Positing the Rocinha\u00a0favela as a symbol of Brazil\u2019s economic ups and downs, this mostly compelling\u00a0Washington Post article\u00a0<\/em>fell short<\/a> of its potential by injecting simplifying (and inaccurate language) into an otherwise high quality piece. It beautifully grounds itself in the personal narrative of a family personally afflicted by gun violence and does so in the broader political and economic context underpinning the current state of public security in Rio. However, the focus on Rocinha\u2019s perceived loss of status\u2014terming the community \u201ca once trendy favela\u201d and \u201conce the showcase shantytown in Brazil\u2019s showcase city\u201d\u2014distracts from what\u2019s really at stake: the fundamental rights and lives of the resident population. Yet more, the article anchors its description of the community in stigmatizing language of precarity and depravity, describing Rocinha as a \u201cslum\u201d and \u201chillside shantytown,\u201d full of \u201cramshackle huts”\u2014assertions that are simply inconsistent with the developed community’s reality. The uncritical lens through which the authors paint real estate speculation<\/a> and the appropriation of favela aesthetics<\/a> also calls attention, misleadingly describing the surge in property \u201cvalues for Rocinha\u2019s shacks\u2014some with million-dollar views of the Christ the Redeemer statue on Mount Corcovado\u201d in years prior as an indication of the community\u2019s prosperity.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another\u00a0Washington Post <\/em>article<\/a>\u00a0provides a rare in-depth look at the military intervention in Vila Kennedy<\/a>, in Rio\u2019s West Zone\u2014but tainted by stigmatizing language and rife with sweeping generalizations, it leaves much to desire. Titled \u201cStop and search? This poor community in Rio says yes, please,\u201d the article flattens the favela’s diversity of perspectives<\/a> in suggesting that the entire community unanimously supports the intervention. Vila Kennedy itself is stereotyped as \u201ca violent shantytown of brick houses\u201d\u2014an amiss charge as the word \u201cshantytown\u201d alludes to the precarity of structures constructed from scrap materials like wood and corrugated metal\u2014not sturdy brick and concrete buildings (originally constructed<\/a> as a government-planned housing development). Beyond Vila Kennedy, the authors attribute this singular view to large swaths of the population residing in favelas across the city: \u201cRather than view the move as an invasion, violence-weary residents of the favelas, or shantytowns, hailed it as a liberation.\u201d Another baseless statement stands out: \u201cIn Rio, the showcase city of the 2016 Olympic Games is now a distant memory.\u201d Contrary to the authors’ claim, the \u201cshowcase Olympic city\u201d is not a distant memory\u2014it simply never transpired as a reality<\/a>\u00a0for favela residents. Behind the smokescreen of Olympic jubilation in select spaces in the city (i.e., those subject to the tourist gaze), favelas and peripheries across the city were the targets of policies of intense repression with\u00a0deadly consequences<\/a>\u00a0throughout the period of mega-events.<\/p>\n

The Globe Post <\/em>follows suit<\/a> with\u00a0this\u00a0analysis of the military intervention. Its appearance as a legitimate, well-researched article belies its numerous misconceptions, inaccuracies, and logical fallacies. Premised on the notion that the problem of violence lies in the presence of parallel powers in favelas, where \u201can alternative order has been built\u201d and criminal organizations have become \u201cthe \u2018owners\u2019 of the territory,\u201d the author argues that violence is a problem of \u201cinstitutional weakness.” The narrative is a sanitized one: attributing Rio’s violence to a “lack of recognition of the state\u2019s and police\u2019s legitimacy,” the author fails to contemplate structural conditions\u2014systemic inequalities, institutional racism, and the criminalization of poverty\u2014stemming not from government absence but rather its selective presence.<\/p>\n

\n

*RioOnWatch is a project of Catalytic Communities<\/em><\/p>\n

Correction: January 8, 2019, 17:00
\n<\/i><\/em>An earlier version of this article misidentified the title of\u00a0Vice<\/i>‘s\u00a0<\/i>short documentary film.<\/i>\u00a0The correct title is\u00a0Ballet and Bullets: Dancing Out of the Favela,\u00a0<\/i>not\u00a0Dancing Through Gunshots in Brazil’s Favelas.\u00a0<\/i>The former title referred to the video uploaded to YouTube, which had been modified from the title of the documentary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas This is the latest contribution to our media watchdog series on the\u00a0Best and Worst International Reporting on Rio\u2019s favelas, part of\u00a0RioOnWatch\u2019s ongoing conversation on the\u00a0media narrative\u00a0and\u00a0media portrayal\u00a0surrounding favelas. Looming large in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":20023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1288,1271,1282,328,336,1365],"tags":[1448,1361,1389,2257,2240,112,1163,280,32,595,221,2211,878,1074,1341,2449,1900,1366,2657,33,2872,534,673,37,15,374,809,270,1402,12,2634,1910,3508,156,453,471,363,612,1385,21,778],"writer":[921],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-50187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-highlight","8":"category-favelaqualities","9":"category-research-analysis","10":"category-understanding-rio","11":"category-violations","12":"category-whats-a-favela-2","13":"tag-favelasareassets","14":"tag-endfavelastigma","15":"tag-slum","16":"tag-appropriation","17":"tag-brazilian-favela-front-party","18":"tag-cantagalo","19":"tag-civil-society","20":"tag-complexo-da-mare","21":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","22":"tag-elections","23":"tag-favela-culture","24":"tag-favela-representation-in-politics","25":"tag-international-comparison","26":"tag-international-reporting","27":"tag-language","28":"tag-marielle-franco","29":"tag-media-narrative","30":"tag-analyzing-media-portrayal-of-favelas","31":"tag-military-intervention","32":"tag-militia","33":"tag-misp","34":"tag-misperceptions","35":"tag-misplaced-public-priorities","36":"tag-north-zone","37":"tag-pacifying-police-unit","38":"tag-politics","39":"tag-public-security","40":"tag-resistance","41":"tag-legacy","42":"tag-rocinha","43":"tag-series","44":"tag-series-best-worst-reporting","45":"tag-solutions-journalism","46":"tag-south-zone","47":"tag-stigma","48":"tag-sustainability","49":"tag-vidigal","50":"tag-vila-kennedy","51":"tag-violence","52":"tag-west-zone","53":"tag-whats-a-favela","54":"writer-rioonwatch"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50187"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=50187"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=50187"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=50187"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=50187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}