Brasil de Fato RS will receive the medal of the 56th Legislature granted by state deputy Adão Pretto (PT), a tribute from the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul. of the Gaucho Parliament, open to the public.
:: Brasil de Fato completes 20 years of popular communication and struggle for democracy ::
According to the parliamentarian, Brasil de Fato plays a strategic role in popular communication and for raising awareness in society. “It is an instrument of the working class and popular movements, which historically fight for the consolidation of democracy and for the population’s access to the truth and quality information. For all that it represents, it is a pride to grant such an honor”, highlighted Pretto.
“For us, it is a recognition of all the commitment we have with popular communication, committed to the working class. In these 5 years of newsroom in RS, we have worked tirelessly to guarantee the production of serious, ethical and credible journalism, bringing guidelines that are not seen in the commercial press”, says Brazil editor of Fato RS Katia Marko.
A trajectory in defense of the democratization of communication
Nationally, Brasil de Fato was born 20 years ago. In Rio Grande do Sul, he turned 5 on July 17th.
In January 2003, Porto Alegre received 100,000 people for the third edition of the World Social Forum, between January 23rd and 28th. It was on Saturday, the 25th, that 7,000 of them filled the Araújo Viana Auditorium, in Parque Farroupilha, for a historic event: the launch of Brasil de Fato, a pioneering journalism initiative organized by Brazilian popular movements.
The opening table shows the importance of the moment: there were the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, the Cuban doctor Aleida Guevara, daughter of Che, the American linguist Noam Chomsky, the Argentine Hebe de Bonafini, leader of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, the photographer Sebastião Salgado and the theologian Leonardo Boff, among other names from the national and world left.
Our first newspaper was printed and launched during the 2003 World Social Forum. And we resisted as a national printed newspaper, distributed weekly throughout Brazil, for 10 years. Soon after the printed newspaper, we launched the Brasil de Fato website.
In 2013 we started the BdF network in the states, promoting local journalism and community interest. In 2014, the production of regional editions of the printed newspaper began, produced in tabloid format, and distributed free of charge on the streets.
:: Brasil de Fato RS celebrates 5 years as an alternative to traditional media for gauchos ::
Our Rio Grande do Sul edition of Brasil de Fato was launched in 2018 with a great event at the Luiz Carlos Prestes Memorial. We produce more than 10 articles daily for the Rio Grande do Sul website and feed the national website with news from the state, in addition to several special series, video reports and event coverage.
Currently, regional editions are edited independently by collectives in nine states: Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Minas Gerais, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. Each state has its own team and its own means funding, but all are articulated in the same editorial line together with popular movements and unions.
First editor of the national printed newspaper, journalist and professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), José Arbex, evaluating the 20 years of existence of the newspaper, considers the project strategic for the Brazilian left, since “it is a concrete alternative in relation to what the mainstream press says and that has this accumulated history”.
“Brasil de Fato is a conquest of Brazilian workers. This is how it has to be seen, this is how it has to be defended, and this is how it has to continue. An asset of Brazilian workers.”
Source: BdF Rio Grande do Sul
Editing: Katia Marko
