Older Restaurant Managers 'More Risk Averse', Study Finds
UFSC study shows prolonged tenure leads managers to favour conservative actions.
Tempo previsto
16/4/2025
UFSC study shows prolonged tenure leads managers to favour conservative actions.
A recent study published in the *Revista Turismo, Visão e Ação* (RTVA) reveals that older managers with longer tenures in restaurants tend to be more risk-averse in their corporate decisions. The research, conducted by researchers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), analyzed data from over 2,000 restaurants in Europe between 2014 and 2016.
The study, titled "Influence of Management Team Characteristics on Risk Decision-Making: Evidence from the Restaurant Sector," utilized the Amadeus database and employed the least squares method to analyze the relationship between manager characteristics – age, tenure, gender, and team size – and the companies' level of financial leverage, used as a risk-taking indicator.
The results showed a significant negative correlation between the age and tenure of managers and their propensity for risk. Older managers and those who had held the same position for a longer period demonstrated a preference for more conservative decisions, opting to maintain the status quo rather than adopting innovative or risky strategies.
Contrary to some expectations, the study found no significant relationship between the size of the management team or female participation and risk-taking. Although previous research has suggested a possible influence of these factors, the data analyzed did not confirm this hypothesis in the specific context of the restaurant industry.
The authors suggest that the risk aversion demonstrated by more experienced managers may be related to the prioritization of stability and the reputation built throughout their careers. Familiarity with the sector and a concern to preserve accumulated gains may lead them to avoid decisions that represent potential threats to the business.
The study's findings have significant implications for restaurant management. The research suggests that the composition of the management team can directly influence the strategy and performance of companies. Restaurants with younger managers may be more willing to innovate and take risks, while those led by more experienced managers may prioritize stability and financial security.
The researchers highlight the need for further studies to deepen the understanding of the relationship between manager characteristics and decision-making in restaurants. Investigating psychological factors, such as individual risk tolerance, and analyzing data from a longer period could enrich the discussion and provide more precise insights for the sector.
Lack of updates and context erodes reader trust.
A journalistic suite is the continuation of a news story in new articles that update previous ones. Something like: "Two people were injured in an accident"; then, "Men injured in accident undergo surgery"; further, "Men injured in accident discharged from hospital"; and finally, "Company responsible for accident involving injuries fined." All these sensational headlines relate to the same original event.
Not every type of news warrants a continuation. Some events and accomplishments have the momentum for a single appearance. However, to appear once or several times in the newspaper, the "thing" must truly be news, which basically means it's not advertising or propaganda – but that's a topic for another time.
In terms of format, a suite is no different from a new news story. After all, a continuation only exists when a new fact is revealed. But it's in style, from what I've observed, that the "marmita das suítes azedou" – meaning why they've lost momentum in recent years. ("Marmita das suítes azedou" is an idiom meaning roughly that the suites have gone stale or lost their appeal).
Let's take a police investigation as an example. Journalism of both good and poor quality is interested in criminal stories. However, in both types of quality, a flavor of vice remains, perhaps originating from the pleasure of "scooping" (when a journalist is the first to report something). It's a haste that hinders more than it helps: not infrequently, versions are presented that collaborate with a story one wants to tell, which may have nothing to do with what actually happened.
In the case of Armed man threatens Black youth in São Paulo, and police officer refuses to act because she's 'off-duty'; watch video (sense-based translation), for example. This is a story that quickly captured the attention of journalists and the public because a video proves not only the omission of a police officer but also her aggression against a young man. Here, whether the police officer was right or wrong is not under discussion. At the same time, due to the lack of suites, the broader context of the three-minute video was missing.
A story told because of its intriguing nature can yield minutes of viewership and an increase in website visitors. However, without continuity, it's shooting oneself in the foot. In 2023, the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report identified that Brazilians' trust in journalism is 43%, a decrease of 19 percentage points since 2015. Statistically, the downward trend may reach 41% in 2024. In this scenario, all resources of intelligence and integrity are welcome to improve these numbers.
Suites are an opportunity to assure the public that editorial choices represent, even if against the majority view, the vehicle's commitment to a story told from beginning to end, with all its nuances. For this, the editorial line as a whole, and even more so the reporters and editors, must approach investigative activity with the detachment of recounting things as they are, and not as they should be.
A genuine pursuit of coherence and personal change contrasts with empty, illusory market promises.
The invitation to transformation can stem from countless motivations. In business, for example, it might originate from the founders' or managers' need to increase productivity and, consequently, profits by creating a happiness-conducive environment. In government initiatives, boosting the morale of public servants and partners through a sense of security and recognition is a way to enhance creativity and accelerate project completion. These are legitimate motivations. However, these plans tend to fail miserably, despite excellent intentions, if the issuer of the invitation doesn't demonstrate that they have undergone the same transformations they propose, and that these transformations have brought them closer to a good life.
The term "good life" can be viewed from numerous perspectives, from the wise to the theoretical. It can be explored through the lenses of philosophy, democracy, and critical theory (Habermas is frequently associated with such research), but we are concerned with its accessible and humane version: a life that has found a sufficiently good path to lessen suffering. A life that suffers less is a good life.
Maturity, which clearly has little to do with age, always demands greater coherence. Coherence saves energy, saves time. The coherent universe uses its power to create lights, small and distant stars. Nature, coherent in its actions, doesn't think twice before unleashing the sea upon the continent when it must. One doesn't negotiate with a cyclone, with a volcanic eruption. Who has ever been able to schedule a meeting with the earth's depths and cancel an earthquake? The apparent chaos of the environment is, in truth, the coherence of life.
We, a fragile humanity facing the forces of nature and the suffering inflicted by others, learn, then, that coherence is an ally of life. It is coherent for an individual who believes themselves to be inferior to others to emit signals that organize the consummation of their perceptions. It is coherent for someone who believes, erroneously of course, that they are superior or better than others to construct scenarios that prove them right. The moral of the story is: every human life, wise to its very core, organizes the world to continue living. If the only way of life they have learned is one of subjugation, humiliation, and begging for affection, it is coherent to continue in that way, precisely to survive.
Civil defense, however, sends SMS alerts when the risk of severe storms is imminent. Receiving an invitation to transformation is like a civil defense alert. It's a warning that beliefs and behaviors are about to cause further harm. Is it possible to prevent it? Through coherence: most likely not. But it is possible to create contingency plans, future plans. It is possible to vacate dangerous areas of the soul, to move to higher, more sober, and refreshing landscapes.
As for me (in the following paragraphs, I choose not to use the traditional Freudian first-person plural), I no longer dare invite any brother (as I call other humans) to anything that might delay or interrupt their path.
Long before believing in improvements in the quality of analysis, research, or technique, I have a devotion to human freedom. It can go wherever it wants, and it will always have, whenever I am able and it is appropriate, my companionship.
If I possessed a universal truth, I would present it, and without any need for persuasion, it would be widely accepted. This is never the case, because what I understand as truth may make no sense whatsoever to my brother. But I have one truth or another, not universal, that is sometimes kind.
The truth is, I usually confess to my intellectual and political critics that I am in search of a map of coherence. And I can't wait to change my mind on what can be changed! In any case, I have accomplished the feat of being relevant to myself, which is a great deal. This saves me from falling for the rhetoric of imposters.
With this, I hope I have made it clear that I cannot, neither today nor in the future, promise that I have the revelation of a secret, an infallible method, a miracle that can bring laughter and money. I leave those promises to those who have experience with them: those who deceive and those who are deceived (and almost always pay, in money, for it). This does not, however, disqualify me as a salesperson. Under ethical conditions, as a telemarketing representative, I was the best at selling automatic debit payments at Tim Sul S/A, in some month of 2004, a year before starting my professional life in journalism.
When you hire me, you will remunerate me for what I can do for the transformation you seek for yourself and your business. And it will always be far more expensive than those who deceive. If coherence is a life differentiator, what more can be said of the market?
I am a little freer, and a little happier, today than I was yesterday. My realistic observation (although I am a serene pessimist) of life is a disillusioned sigh. When, at 15 years old, I suffered bitterly the end of a relationship that had been the best thing in my entire life, and that would never be repeated, because that was my only opportunity for happiness, and at that moment I only had to live in mourning until my solitary death, a friend who could have been my great-grandfather told me: “Vine, do you know what the advantage of being disillusioned is? It's not being deluded.”
At first, ceasing to believe in promises makes one uncomfortable. Later, it becomes a lifestyle so sincere, so honest, so coherent. I stopped demanding that others be what I expect them to be. And I don't care when they demand that I be what I am not. It goes in one ear and out the other. I still suffer, but in a good life, one that suffers less. In the end, who would have thought, I am a happy man, to the extent possible.
UFPR academic event addresses Bolsonaro, Lava Jato, and digital media with current, in-depth research.
The relationship between former President Jair Messias Bolsonaro and distrust of electronic voting machines is the first work presented at the 2023 Dissertation Seminar of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). It is being conducted by researcher Isadora Raquel Rupp, under the supervision of Professor Luciana Panke, PhD. The Seminar is an annual public presentation that begins this Monday (26th), in person, at the Federal University's Communication Department headquarters in Curitiba (Rua Bom Jesus, 650), and runs until Wednesday (28th). On Tuesday and Wednesday, the seminar will be held online, via the Communication Graduate Program (PPGCOM) channel. Dr. Rodrigo Eduardo Botelho-Francisco, PhD, is responsible for the event, along with Dr. Carlos Marciano.
There are 14 works in total, from the Culture and Politics lines. This means a considerable variety of premises, research objects, and methods.
The investigations "Is culture political? Is politics culture? Analysis of the news framing of the themes in the period before and after the 2022 elections," by researcher Sharon Jeanine Abdalla; "Facade Journalism: rhetorical strategies on health in the program 'Os pingos nos is'," by researcher Karina Pierin Ernsen Alves; and "Operation Car Wash in political conversation: analysis of comments on the Gazeta do Povo YouTube channel," by this reporter, are, along with the debut presentation, from the Political Communication line. The advising professors are Prof. Dr. Carla Candida Rizzotto, Prof. Dr. Kelly Cristina de Souza Prudencio, and Prof. Dr. Rafael Cardoso Sampaio, respectively.
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Deep team insight fosters effective talks, boosting tangible business outcomes.
Presenters Kael Moro, attorney-partner at Vanzin & Penteado, and Bruno Nassar, CEO of Lexnautas, interviewed analyst and researcher Vinícius Sgarbe for the videocast Conexão Empreendedorismo (Entrepreneurship Connection). Below are excerpts from the conversation, converted into an article.
Communication is a relatively new science (in terms of establishing a field of academic research), but it is present in all areas of life. We believe that its definition can vary, depending on the role of the definer. For medicine, there will be one bias, for law, another, and so on.
However, we agree that communication occurs in the present moment, between human beings. This happens through words, gestures, and elements of a vast set of expressions. In our view, communication is not the property of communication scholars, but of all of us.
Furthermore, we emphasize that communication, although a recently established science (we write about journalism in the 17th century, and public opinion in the 20th century), is the product of other fields refined over centuries, such as philosophy and political science. In any case, we consider that listening to the experiences of communication users is more important than an epistemology of communication. From books, cinema, television, and radio, all conceived for mass distribution, to the interlocutor of artificial intelligence, users are the "owners" of communication.
We believe that it is a fundamental science for understanding social interactions, which includes the limitations of these interactions. Knowledge and refinement of this science are essential to improve the results of human relationships that translate into a "good life".
We understand that a significant part of business activity is susceptible to automated behaviors. In other words, what is communicated in this condition escapes the rational and emotional intelligence of the individual.
As much as we insist—and sometimes with convincing arguments, brilliant in rhetoric—that we are acting freely, very often it is nothing more than a loop of unassimilated experiences. This is the case of the entrepreneur who, at the end of the day, concludes: "exactly what I didn't want to happen happened again".
It is in this context that self-knowledge comes into play: by knowing ourselves, we shed light on the dark areas of our lives. This invariably means breaking free from automatic behavior and, with a little more work, taking the reins of the business and of success.
Autonomous entrepreneurs (from the perspective of freedom of life) are recognized by their peers and are capable of managing teams. When we worry about things that cannot be solved (because they are fanciful or irrelevant problems, for example), we diminish the happiness and performance of teams. When we have an analytical perspective, instead of an embellished leadership performance, we become capable of saying: "all my plans become successes".
Leading Brazilian journalist discusses challenges facing the profession in a project debating media's future.
In an interview with the Lab Jornalismo 2050® project, journalist Heródoto Barbeiro answers the question: "What is journalism?". The live stream was broadcast on the Outras Terras Filmes production company's channel last Friday (3rd). He was interviewed by me, Sgarbe. The ten questions and answers are also segmented in this playlist.
Heródoto was a professor of Brazilian history for over two decades before becoming a brilliant mind in journalism. He was one of the founders of Brazil's first all-news radio station, CBN. He also hosted, among other programs, the Roda Viva interview show on TV Cultura.
Heródoto's voice sounds familiar to me, and probably to most readers of this article. The enduring and serene admiration I have for him comes of age this year. In 2005, I listened to him daily on the national news while we prepared the CBN state news program. Even today, he says he conducts ten interviews a day. In other words, interviewing him is like celebrating Mass for the Pope.
Heródoto's spirit reminds me of Luiz Geraldo Mazza, a former political commentator for the local CBN. Regarding technology, Mazza used to say that there wasn't enough, that there needed to be more people doing live broadcasts of events. Both seem, in a Victorian and heroic way, unfazed by the advancements of platforms.
Berne's method aids people and firms reinventing, facing inner truths.
When Eric Berne popularized Transactional Analysis, he introduced, among a host of theoretical and practical innovations, the possibility of accelerating voluntary processes of change. That is, given an okay position for both the client and the analyst, to make intentions for improvement a reality. A few days ago, I heard from a mentor: "You will never regret being kind". Or, from a supervisor: "In the end, what remains is the relationship between two people, between two human beings".
But despite this, Transactional Analysis sessions can and probably will disrupt things a bit before helping to resolve them. My perspective on this matter is that the simple act of ordering thought and action; the very simple act of repositioning what is more or less important; looking at how a day is divided as a portrait of how life is being divided; these elements already represent a considerable amount of work. Changing the order of things is like cloud seeding to induce rain. Truth, the very thing that compels us to be the best version of ourselves, is a force of nature, just like rain.
One cannot negotiate with floods and landslides, ask the volcano to wait a little longer because we haven't finished building the barrier. One cannot bargain with the gale to wait a while longer so that we can gather the laundry from the clothesline. One cannot hold back tears in the face of a Yanomami child with their ribs showing from hunger. Truth has the nature of natural tragedies. It doesn't ask permission to be true. It shows us life as it is, the world as it is, it shows you and me as we are when we are alone on our paths. All that darkness, which is the fear of abandonment, of aggression, of cruel words, all that darkness that makes us less divine in our relationships with others, all that darkness is dispelled by the truth.
Throughout my life, I have met some criminals (from a legal standpoint). Once, I asked one of them: "Why did you decide to go to jail?" He paid attention, and answered that he needed to find that answer. Our friendship began at that moment. They don't lie to me, and I don't lie to them either. With this, we are protected from each other. The truth, a force of nature, changes the landscape, cleanses the "viscous and dirty trail left by the impure sowers of hatred" (ESCRIVÁ DE BALAGUER, 2019, p. 25).
When truth manifests itself, one can expect an impressive amount of acid rain and thunder, like a violent eruption, or a most serene breeze accompanying the flight of a dandelion seed. But, whatever the case, it will occupy the appropriate space and definitively change the landscape. To improve is to face this force, to love it, to pray a novena asking for it to come soon.
Want to know more about how Transactional Analysis sessions can help you, your family, and your business finally find what you are looking for? If this is truly your moment of courage, schedule a time to talk about it.
Reporter's Day: critical reflection warns of language impoverishment and profession's future challenges.
Journalist Fernando Rodrigues's post is a beautiful reflux on Reporter's Day. From now on, it integrates my sacred canon of the profession, like a Pauline letter with its dissonances.
Journalism, even if it doesn't utilize Critical Theory, from which one can name countless phenomena and behaviors, or any other theory, has within it a perspective on the world that asks objective questions, among which "why do we exist?".
The reporter of the future, unlike the pornographic (HAN, 2017), will have to, before very elaborate discussions, turn to vocabulary. It's as if the iconic vices of "summer vacationers" or "revelers" have gotten out of control.
Access to modest cultural products, like those offered by digital influencers, or even well-produced television programs with hyperboles that never end, or the impoverished rhymes of sertanejo music about an obsessive, if not violent, love, should be part of the repertoire. But, when these elements are the only lenses through which to see the world, there is no good communication, let alone journalism.
When U2 released the album "No Line On The Horizon", I commented to a songwriter friend that I had considered it sad, sadder than the previous one, back in 2008. Her answer struck me: "we are not getting better". "The Day of Creation", by Vinicius de Moraes:
On the contrary, we need to be logical, frequently dogmatic
We need to face the problem of moral and aesthetic positions
Be social, cultivate habits, laugh without wanting to and even make love without wanting to
Our profession requires more depth from us, not less. It requires more genuine empathy, not superficial talk about a subject that I don't even agree with that much, but I understand you (in reality, understanding nothing).
Suicide of the elderly, overcoming grief, childhood depression, pornography as a disease, bank violence are some of the topics that will be on the agenda-setting tomorrow. And they should not be treated with silly puns.
More like this: "Now that I am a complete man, I am full of emptiness".
Strength, reporters. Here, it continues like the Wild West
Elections' backstage reflections raise queries on political aim, friendship, and digital future.
What campaign did we run, what did we “fight” for, what did we learn? My serene pessimism leads me to ask these and many other questions that bring to mind the book of Ecclesiastes. When Solomon, hypothetically speaking, concluded that there was nothing new under the sun, he had grown weary of the glory of wisdom. Therefore, we did more of the same, we fought for nothing, we learned more ways to maintain our point of view. But, wait a minute, ladies and gentlemen. That's not how I see it today, despite the evidence.
This Friday, we conclude the rounds of party political advertising, party alliances, the formation of political groups, the distribution of funds, election propaganda, the printing of papers. We launch ourselves, until Sunday, into that moment of suspension after an Olympic leap. The momentum, the bodily movements, the preparation, all have been given. Now, there's the wind of the news cycle, the gravity of the churches, a synapse or two dedicated to the protection of vital organs.
I found, within the 2022 electoral landscape, more specifically in the candidates and their associates, one whole man, one whole woman, perhaps a few more, but many of the living dead. That is, people who need a friend. Some years ago, almost twenty, during a formal meeting with artists from the city, I laughed so hard at a joke that I sprayed red wine over well-dressed people, furniture, and even the dog. That's when Dudson said "you need a friend" while helping me clean up the mess and quickly took me out of circulation for a moment.
I don't think I've stopped needing a friend. Not only do I need one, but I have enough to be that friend to others. You might ask "what did they spit on you, Sgarbe?". And it wasn't anything acidic or deadly, but a breath of old lady talcum powder. Personally, I adore the smell of well-cared-for elderly women, my God, how a well-coiffed crown inspires me! But I'm referring to a certain musty smell, a thick mildew, a colony of bacteria that might grow on an old piece of beet, every idea from the days of yore. That was the bad stretch of the race. But then, I looked up.
A few hours after the Webb sent us images of stars, I was passing through the darkness of Fabio's farm towards the banks of the Ivaí River. Encouraged by my friend, I looked up. And I felt totally alone before the Universe, except for the profound awareness of God. The bright, multicolored dots from the telescope were reproduced right there, before a flaccid neck craning towards the sky, with the naked eye. That's when I understood what my role in this year's election communication would be. Fabio proposes, among other things, that Paraná encourage and sponsor the opening of regional product stores in the metaverse. From the fetid old politics to the digital future, on an unpretentious trip to the North.
British humour success: Philomena Cunk satirizes intellectual frailty, even within serious journalism.
Some years ago, Dr. Cida Stier took me along to a communications training session for Federal Highway Police officers. At the end of one of the theoretical phases, she proposed a roleplay (a kind of "theater" that simulates situations). The "cast" was a police officer and a reporter, with me playing the reporter. The scenario was: "a truck driver died in a rollover, there's a traffic interruption". In front of a large group, we proceeded as follows:
—Good morning, how are you? My name is Vinícius, I'm a reporter. What's your name?
After some back and forth, he gets to the point of telling me:
—A semi-truck rolled over. But we have little information, because we're on our way. — I ask: —Is the driver okay? — To which he responds: —Isn't he dead? — Not even the officer could finish the sentence without a hearty laugh. From then on, everyone laughed because, let's just say, the actors struggled a bit with the script.
I remember this episode when I watch the English character Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan), produced by the BBC. Philomena is an ignorant, yet equipped, documentarian. As a television presenter, her dialogues with interviewees are recorded on video. Her demeanor is absolutely exemplary: voice, clothing, gestures. But despite this, she's as thick as a brick. The episodes are memorable.
In one of them, she confuses King Arthur's "Camelot" with "cum a lot". In another, she films around Michelangelo's David and wonders if, due to its absence in the sculpture, people of that time had anuses. In the following one, she talks about George Orwell's predictions in the book "1984". She emphasizes that such predictions were made in the book using "nothing but words" – laughter.
Despite the BBC being one of the most prominent journalistic brands in the world, alongside ABC in the United States, TV Globo in Brazil, Deutsche Welle in Germany, and Franceinfo in France, Philomena's existence doesn't seem to me to be merely a comedic format. It is, above all, an invitation to learn to laugh at ourselves.
Some years ago, while visiting an advertising agency in Goiânia, the publicist Renato Monteiro told me that the first thing they did when a new ad project arrived was spend days crafting the most obvious interventions. If it was a campaign for funeral insurance, they'd come up with things like, "prices are dying to be seen", "buy before it's too late", or "who's going to worry about the nails in your coffin?" At that time, the job that was supposed to go on TV was selling a health plan for small businesses, with a minimum of seven employees. After the creative process, they had Snow White sign up for the plan. A brilliant piece!
In television journalism, there are many variables, as is common in all jobs subject to enormous pressures and instabilities. I believe that one of the biggest challenges in attracting and retaining talent is the organizational ability of reporters. Someone who can wake up every day at 4:00 am, start preparing for a news program that airs at 6:00 am an hour later, and repeat this activity daily for months or years, has a great chance of occupying the anchor position. For this reason alone, an exemplary employee would have been found. On the other hand, when the order variable is too rigid, creative work can sometimes be diminished. "Journalism is half business, half show", argued journalist Gladimir Nascimento.
Without hardship, without excessive narcissism, without power plays or psychological games out of control, with a sense of humor to laugh at oneself, television journalism can have intellectual survival.
You can watch Philomena on the BBC website and in a series that has just premiered on Netflix. The hashtag #philomenacunk on Instagram has some good clips.
Text critiques emotional TV anchor excesses, urging a return to classic journalism's best practices.
I am a viewer of a French channel, Franceinfo, which, for me, surpasses the BBC in visual terms, if not editorial. I pay attention to what they are doing (including having used the same soundtrack for a vignette that I used in my undergraduate project).
Here in Paraná, RPC innovated during the pandemic by showing all attempts to contact a source who didn't respond: something to be used as an international standard of quality. José Wille on Band is a relief. The Paraná Turismo channel is getting better and better at showcasing scenes from tourist spots in the countryside. What has been a bit off lately is the narrator saying "própia" instead of "própria".
But something that bothers me about local channels is the deficiency of the presenters — with rare and nameable exceptions. I reserve the right, however, to write that those who remain good at journalism belong to more "conservative" schools (lead, reasonable analysis, pertinent comments).
As a member of the journalistic community, far from my personal taste, I reaffirm the deficiency of the presenters.
It is crystal clear that languages change, and that it is necessary to speak the fluent idiom of each year. For these reasons, we started presenting the news standing up, we started saying "clica lá" instead of the correct "clique lá". And we also started begging to be accepted by the viewer.
A reporter mentioning what they "feel" about a subject should be a once-in-a-pope's-death occurrence. A natural event, a starving crowd, the state of alert after a bombing. But reporting that one has "sad news" for something inevitable, like a car accident, is an appeal detected by the audience, and one that shames the historical construction of journalism.
I presume there are influences from multiple directions. One is the internet's way of creating new "celebrities". But, dear reporter, you already have the station's brand. And putting on the whole act of being a "nice guy" hasn't helped the brand, nor the audience's perception of journalism. Therefore, let's return to Ivor Yorke's recommendation.
For Yorke, the television journalist presenter has to "display a certain arrogance". The translation is a tragedy because the word "arrogance" has negative connotations. However, I risk this paraphrase: "the television journalist cannot ask the audience what they want to know. He is the one who must know what the audience needs to know".
I will spare the "journalists" of a certain channel from having a live dialogue transcribed in this post that proves by A + B that television — although it didn't need to — is leaving something to be desired in the matter of repertoire, intelligence, and behavior.
Pandemic poses novel challenges to journalism, accelerating digitization and expanding remote workflows.
The digital transformation process has imposed itself on newsrooms with greater force since the beginning of the pandemic. Managers face business changes alongside the challenge of reporting on a unique political and health period.
Platformization as a business strategy, replacing the old pipeline, had been implemented, albeit under different names, since the creation of news websites for newspapers and broadcasters. Publishers understood relatively quickly that popular digital networks had, from a business perspective, a parasitic behavior, and that it wouldn't be possible to distribute content through them. Moreover, advertising budgets shifted dramatically, to the detriment of traditional publications. This led to a significant change in the way content was offered.
When Covid-19 arrived in early 2020, the variables of journalistic practice oscillated violently. From then on, in addition to the need to convert audiences into subscribers, there was a call for resilience in the core values of reporting. Maxims like "a reporter's place is on the street", which had been losing strength, completely collapsed. The challenge became maintaining the business, delivering coverage with periodicity, continuity, and aesthetics consistent with the broadcaster's standards, with practically everything done from journalists' home offices.
In an interview with Orbis Media Review, Luciana Marangoni, the editorial director of the RPC group in Paraná, says that "it is certainly the most challenging coverage in journalism since the invention of television". The rich discussions between editors and reporters amidst the newsroom cubicles no longer happen. In fact, the facilities are isolated, and teams are divided by color, with physical contact restricted to the bare minimum, and shift changes marked by the sanitization of surfaces and equipment.
In digital life, multi-faceted coexistence contracts are established, or, more recently, "fields of coexistence" are discussed. The idea involves the permeability of relationships. "We have already told very sensitive stories, such as the collapse of a building in Guaratuba, or the landslides and floods in Antonina and Morretes. But Covid-19 has to do with our families, with risks to everyone's health", notes Luciana. Before, the journalist's profession could well be left outside the home, but not now.
The editor-in-chief of the newspaper and the Bem Paraná portal, Josianne Ritz, misses the buzz of the newsroom. "I'm well adapted. What was bad in the beginning isn't anymore. I feel safe. And so, I didn't set up a special space, to maintain the buzz. I stay in the living room, with everyone".
In the publications edited by Josianne, production has increased since the isolation measures, a result that is also a consequence, for her, of the staff's long tenure. "I feared that the print closing process, because of the layout, could be complicated [by online work]. But we are closing even earlier. The rapport is somewhat atypical because we have worked together for a long time. The majority [have been here] for more than 20 years," she notes.
G1 Paraná was the first extension of TV Globo's portal to an affiliate. In February, it celebrated its tenth anniversary, with the milestone of over one billion pageviews. Executive editor Bibiana Dionísio, who has been there since the first day of operation, set up an office in her living room. "I understood that life goes on, that it's necessary to take care of nutrition, exercise, and mental health. This is the reality of the world now, and what can I do? Take care of my family, work, of course, but I enrolled in a communication and marketing course at USP, to learn new things".
According to Bibiana, the need for news grew because of the plague, but also because G1 gained relevance and prominence. "Every day we do the exercise of choosing priorities. Is this news better than that one? When we decide on topics that escape the tragedy, we have a good response from the audience. It's a way to contribute to other aspects of people's lives".
When the pandemic started, Bibiana's baby, Luísa, was one year and three months old. "Strength comes sporadically. There are weeks when it's possible to maintain a satisfactory pace, when things flow more easily. But there are also moments of physical and emotional exhaustion". Luísa requires a list of specialized therapies, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, "and this is experienced alongside work, family issues, life's issues, which haven't ceased to exist".
In a year of extreme measures, there hasn't been a single infection originating from RPC's headquarters.
Far from being simple or easy, resilience in the practice of journalism during the pandemic has become a form of survival.
Radio lessons: consistency, repetition, & aesthetics are key to audience engagement.
Communication projects are born from the need to tell someone something, hence the quest for "how to gain an audience". So, there are various types of publications. In this sense, they can be for a restricted audience, in the case of a house organ, which is a "company newspaper," for a niche of subscribers, or broadcast, when going out to networks, radio, and television.
Joke tellers are invariably good communicators. That's why I like to be around them at family gatherings. When they embellish the simple, they capture my attention. The best ones I've heard are improbable. "A nun was on the road holding a basket of chicks…"
On the other hand, being good with anecdotes doesn't mean having lasting success in personal or business communication projects. Famous profiles on YouTube and Instagram tend to have an expiration date when they don't professionalize.
Firstly, projects of brands, platforms, or politicians are communication projects.
Moreover, radio classes in journalism school present three fundamental aspects for building an audience. Let's borrow the idea from radio, because it applies broadly.
In other words, a communication project needs an opportunity to appear.
I see stillborns frequently. They are of the type "I'm going to post environmental law tips from today onwards", and the next post never comes. A striking project has to show up repeatedly.
And not only show up repeatedly, it has to have a reasonable interval between publications. In other words, a newsletter sent bi-weekly has a better chance of success than one sent solely at the whim of the sender.
Every time a publication is kept alive, with sacred periodicity, a little bit of public trust is deposited in that project. How to gain an audience? Little by little…
Photojournalism professor André Zielonka jokes that "mastering depth of field is what differentiates photographers from mortals". I agree with him on the idea that mastering aesthetics makes a striking difference between small projects and projects. Herbert Vianna:
I made use of this pamphleteering discourse / But my stupidity has a birthday
Finally, the clothing, the speech, the quality of the camera, the microphone, the setting. These variables have to be controlled for a satisfactory result.
Journalistic automation boosts efficiency, yet human insight and deep analysis remain vital.
In 2009, under the title "Eweb: Standardized Digital Journalism", four social communication students from PUCPR (I was one of them) made a series of videos for the internet as their final course project.
In production, the cinematic technique is a university tragedy with hints of a pirated copy of 3D Max installed on a library computer.
It takes less than a minute of the first video for "user focus" to appear prominently. At a time when BlackBerrys were the only encrypted network, and journalists and advertisers were colonizing Twitter, reaching such a conclusion with the support of a communication degree is, at the very least, quite good.
Today, digital marketing and the business platform model suggest that journalists continue to do what they have always done ethically and intelligently.
I don't see people searching the internet for deeper analysis, for something that makes them reflect. Text on the internet will satiate the need for information that is up-to-date and can be passed on.
Michelle Thomé, in an interview with Eweb, in 2009.
Michelle Thomé predicted, in her own words, the first rehearsals of post-truth and quantum politics. Both are, very roughly, when opinions and facts carry the same weight. It's the "what matters is that I express myself" mentality.
But something remained the same. Journalist Luiz Oliveira was in charge of the digital section of the Gazeta do Povo newspaper, and for him, online text maintained the format created by Americans.
The lead, widely appreciated for its characteristics of information sequencing and reading time optimization, answers the basic questions:
what,
who,
how,
when,
where, and
why
(with some variation).
The year following the publication of Eweb, Sharon Jeanine Abdalla researched "Lead and Inverted Pyramid: The Influence of the American Model on Journalism in Paraná" for the Federal University of Paraná. She interviewed journalist Aroldo Murá G. Haygert.
There's no point in having a lead and these straightforward techniques if the newspaper is garbage. (...) The newspaper prioritized headlines, they had character counts, which was very difficult at the time. When you work with typography it's complicated; with the computer, today, it's easier to do that.
Journalist Aroldo Murá G. Haygert.
For over ten years, Eweb has been discussing the trend of journalism automation, starting with the lead. Once parameters are written and refined, real-world data could be updated automatically, either by search engines or by APIs (which are a type of connection between databases).
An example. The highway patrol would provide real-time data on the number of accidents, tickets, traffic arrests, etc. News websites would reproduce, through thematic panels, articles, notifications, whatever, content that dispenses with intellectual work. Robots would write:
"Two people were arrested for driving without a license during the holiday weekend";
"Traffic jam on BR-277 stretches for 2 km towards the coast, starting at the Botanical Garden";
"Emergency: Fog at the entrance to the Serra do Mar reduces visibility to 5 m";
The reporter spared from roadside reporting would have time to propose what machines couldn't do in an unprecedented way, like reporting on the transgenerational consequences of violent deaths. Do families repeat the pattern of dying on the road?
Or routine things.
How much does the government invest in educational campaigns?
How long do they last?
How is their reach measured?
What research is used for their creation?
Does the taxpayer speed because they pay tolls?
Do people who get speeding tickets enjoy driving?
When will telephone companies install internet access all the way to the beach?
The soundtrack used in Eweb is from the album "Deep Cuts", released in 2003, by the Swedish siblings of "The Knife". In 2020, French state television Franceinfo used one of the songs from this album for a program promo.
Unbalanced outrage can hinder effective communication, diminishing our chances of being truly heard.
Indignation is an important driving force, a conclusion I’ve reached through practical experience. When faced with injustice or disqualification, I get incredibly angry. It's an open invitation (DE ALMEIDA, Maku) to fall into the "less-than/more-than" existential position and start playing psychological games.
Although psychoanalysis and political communication offer some valid points regarding malaise, disillusionment, and the formulation of threats, it is in transactional analysis that I find the first roadmap to understanding indignation. My intention is to help us all become a little less indignant.
The "less-than/more-than" existential position, described by Berne, relates to the individual who feels at a disadvantage in relationships. “The other person earns more!”, “But that's because they're more attractive!”, “The hard work always falls to me!”, and so on. And if the other person is "more", then I am "less".
I ask: why do we "hate" an opposing "ideology" or corruption? Alright, there are several possible errors. When faced with a blatant mistake by others, what do we do? Shout? Impose our will violently? Well, of course not. And this is the "problem" with indignation.
When indignant, we think we have a free pass for uncouth behavior. And that's where the "persecutor" in psychological games enters the scene, to "speak the truth!", "Give it to them straight!", "You're going to have to listen to me!". What are the chances of an "indignant" person being heard? Low. Very low.
It matters little how important the message is if it doesn't reach the other person in the right way. In fact, the "right way" is the way the other person will understand. "Communication is what the other person understands".
Whether or not you’re against issue A, have chosen issue B as your cause, or have been called upon to clarify issue C, it is both possible and necessary to communicate effectively. Please, don't stop participating. We can talk about absolutely anything without raising our voices or harming our fellow human beings while thinking we are doing good.
Emotional balance & affect crucial for journalists amid tech advances.
Backin the 2010s, the journalist from Paranaguá, Luiz Geraldo Mazza, commented on aradio station in Curitiba: "There's too little information, we needmore". Intelligent and hip, he's been reporting news since the 50s – andhe's still standing tall like an Araucaria tree. At the time, he was referringto a type of reporting that was replaceable. That is, how could a reporter'sdescription be better than a live video broadcast?
Thestones of the public walkway know that surveillance cameras and those attachedto cell phones have changed the way we consume news, because videos from thesecameras recurrently illustrate website homepages and prime-time television.
Integrationhas to do with interpersonal relationships and a sense of inner fulfillmentsufficient to navigate delicate moments.
Butnot so fast. This isn't the end of the activity, as happened with charging forparking tickets. The reporter of this decade is even more necessary than in theprevious one, since Mazza's dreams have come true. One of the most prominentchallenges is to remain relevant to oneself, to the purposes that led one tomark "Journalism" on the university entrance exam application.
Amultimedia reporter is not necessarily an integrated reporter. A multimedianewsroom is not an absolute synonym for an integrated newsroom. Multimedia isrecording video, writing for the blog, taking quality photographs. Integrationhas to do with interpersonal relationships and a sense of inner fulfillmentsufficient to navigate delicate moments.
TheThree Ego States
Inthe first pages of the book "What Do You Say After You Say Hello?",psychiatrist Eric Berne presents three types of what he called "egostates". We tend to recall analogous theories, searching for parallels. Onthe other hand, I invite you, the reader, to stay in the "here andnow" as a way to put into practice what transactional analysis (the nameof Berne's main theory) proposes. When we communicate from the "adult egostate", we analyze the environment objectively (while in the"parent" and "child" states, the mind is focused on pastreferences).
Farfrom needing ten pages of introduction, plus twenty on methodology and thirtythat no one wants to read anymore, transactional analysis offers an approach tobe applied immediately. It's a sophisticated simplicity that serves as aparameter for every sentence uttered by a reporter. It's when one can hold upto the mirror the old practice of "separating the wheat from the chaff,and publishing the chaff". It serves the profession as a whole, as aphilosophy of life indicated for journalists.
Inthe world of live streams and competitive newsrooms, there is also the delicateissue of post-truth. I call it delicate because, somehow, the conception ofthis idea is embarrassing. It's as if the renowned "bourgeoisjournalism", so-called by the Frankfurt School, lost its footing in theface of "network" communication, instead of "beam". Andsuch a network, like many of us who interact without any need for a matrixstimulus, such as a headline, for example, is more focused on how it feelsabout what it consumes than with the degree of accuracy of the reporting.
Whereis the Reporter?
Thecommunication academy has been looking at the issue of affectivity and callsthe relationship between advisors and researchers a "doubleexchange". But these are words from articles, more or less like bandanason the invisible man. A powerful and creative tradition of succession hasalways existed in learning relationships – in a more or less useful way. It issaid that in the past, the intern who had just arrived at the TV station wasasked to go to the competing station to borrow a "colorbar ruler". I'venever seen this happen in real life, but it's a type of humiliation that, evenimagined, is part of corporate folklore.
Whenyou leave the newsroom with a fixed idea for a story, there is no relationshipwith the source. There is the risk of fiction, superficiality, and, why not,malice. With the journalism profession in tow, the individual reporter hastheir own transactions amplified. It is theirs the relationship with the clientof the sponsored content, with the editor with whom they will discuss what isor isn't news, with the interviewee. At this point, reader, is where theintellectual and emotional health of the reporter has to do with those peoplefrom the network in the paragraph above who want to feel things and not collectthem.
Whenyou leave the newsroom with a fixed idea for a story, there is no relationshipwith the source. There is the risk of fiction, superficiality, and, why not,malice. A reporter prepared for emerging technologies is, first, aware ofthemselves and their vocation. Then they can use Instagram – and show thedifference a professional journalist makes.
Originally published in OrbisMedia Review.
Reflection fosters vital dialogues, decrying nationalism's perils and seeking pathways towards lasting peace.
Wehad, at least I had, a great deal of hope that a miracle would be granted to us(have faith, my dear!), namely: to live without war, without bloodshed. Fromthe history of the scientific world, there's a special record (for me) of thishope, when Einstein and Freud exchanged letters under the title "WhyWar?". In general and specific terms, they concluded, from a provocationby the League of Nations (which would later become the United Nations –"damned communists!"), that the origin of war is patriotism.
WhenI speak of this subject, of a choice to be a pacifist, I encounter resistancefrom people of different schools of thought. Whether it's a simple man or anenlightened one, it is difficult to sustain the argument that peace depends ona large number of small and large sacrifices, and that raising a country's flagand calling it greater than others is a risk. More than quickly, theUkraine-Russia reality arises, by which one could ask "but what if acountry invades your territory?", and we fall into what I call"aiming for the bishop to hit the priest", which is to continue toaffirm: patriotism is the origin of war. Or wasn't it under nationalistfoundations that we committed shameful errors against life? Germany above all!Jews below the earth! How many millions died in Europe during World War II? Ina simple calculation, it was about three billion kilograms of human flesh thatrotted.
InUkraine today, did you also see on television bodies being thrown into massgraves? I even thought, on that occasion, "it must be archival footagefrom World War II."
InBrazil, a more sophisticated "nationalism", and with the consent ofpsychiatric medicine, murdered sixty thousand people in Barbacena (MG). Threemillion kilograms of human flesh that rotted. Of those who died in the Colôniahospital, about 70% didn't even have a diagnosis of mental illness. They diedbecause they were poor, because they were rebellious, because they becamepregnant by someone who couldn't disappoint their own conservative family. Thebodies were sold to medical schools, after dying on straw soiled with urine andhuman feces.
Butdespite all these things, we will have to talk every day (including withnationalists).
Atthe beginning of this text, I referred to a hope. I had in mind what was a kindof collective fantasy, there's probably an appropriate name for what happened,but I don't know what it is, that the first round of the elections would rid usof the outrage that is the Brazilian public stage of 2022.
Therewith your people, tell me, have you encountered depressed, anxious people,people losing their hair? Is it a consequence of the pandemic? Is it aconsequence of political polarization? The fact is that "women are goingcrazy, and there are legions of them weeding / The longing for their men". Whatever it was, or whoever was more or less responsible, we wanted it to beover. That was our sincere hope.
It turns out that it wasn'tlike that. We in journalism must talk daily about the substantial changes onthe public stage. Basic philosophy lesson: if a change is substantial, the pothas indeed soured for those who hoped to relive the plastic grandeur of thenews of yesteryear. Now, my dear, "grab" what will be fun: we willnecessarily overcome this difficult moment.
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Author warns against trivialisation and excessive emotionalism in daily journalism, a risk that may weaken the profession.
When I was young, I heard of managers who kicked doors, yelled at subordinates, brought too much emotion and personality to work. I wasn't managed by anyone like that. And I hope (and prepare myself) not to be that horrible guy, although it sometimes happens in the form of sarcasm, of ridicule. Believe me, however, that when I am being ridiculous, I leave no doubt, I outline the ridiculousness very clearly, with little or no chance of misinterpretation. This is the case in this post. I confirm the idea of psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion: laughter has a corrosive power (in the excellent sense of weakening the rusts of prejudice and hatred, for example).
In the role of journalist, I face countless moral and ethical dilemmas, which doesn't shake me. I've been training for this at university, at work, in the professional development that never stopped. A piece of news really needs to be bad to throw me off balance. When that's the case, I tend to resolve it in individual therapy. I ask myself questions, such as "how is this important to me?" (and I avoid "why is this important to me", with the idea of improving the quality of the investigation). These are my credentials as a reporter and documentarian.
Now, back to the ridiculous. A few years ago, I remember a television reporter breathlessly doing a "live shot" to tell of the horror she had experienced on the street. She had seen a man get out of his car to threaten another with an iron bar. I don't know what world the reporter lived in to be so astonished by "just another day at work".
In this morning's newspaper, and note that I'm now making an effort not to be snobbish, not to persecute, not to, I don't know, kick a dead dog?, in a newspaper this morning the presenter stopped the newscast to say that the news was very bad, that it was very difficult to live in such a cruel world, and that they (the worst part is this: he was speaking on behalf of the brand, on behalf of an entire team that wakes up early) were doing the incredible work of alleviating the weight of that terrible news. It was information about car accidents.
I take this opportunity in this text to ask: what defines a "serious" accident? Is it an accident with a fatality? Is it an accident with more than one injured person? Is it an accident that congests traffic for x amount of time, for y distance? If every accident is "serious", none are serious.
Just kidding!
Despite tech shifts, journalism's future hinges on public role and ethical media grants.
I don't take the internet seriously now. Before, the public space of communication was mediated by ethics, or the lack thereof. It was the "bundle" model of broadcasting. Fortunately, there was an experienced journalist who calculated the impact of the news for the company and for the reporter.
Two perspectives occur to me. In the first, artificial intelligence can perform data collection, processing, and presentation. The figure of the weather presenter can be surpassed by apps, as can the writing of short news items. A well-trained robot writes well from press releases.
Then, the funeral of journalism will have to await a change in legislation. According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), 87.9% of Brazilian households have a radio, and 93% have a television. Although advertising revenue has decreased significantly, a Brazilian TV network leads the market, ahead of Facebook and Google.
It is common for media bosses to proclaim the terrible times we live in, from day one of the business. Now, if the production of professional news in 2021 is contemptible, let's reorganize the concessions. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
In the 1983 Decree, from the last president of the dictatorship, João Figueiredo (who preferred the smell of horses to the smell of the people): "do not broadcast programs that offend public sentiment, exposing people to situations that, in some way, result in embarrassment".
"Not even the Pope, Maria da Graça, not even the saints, no one in the world can answer without hesitation the question": are journalists more capable than publicists and data analysts to clean up the mess of the bubbles?
Post-election, journalists face bridging social divides, engaging diverse realities.
Facing the elected president, whoever they may be, in two weeks, we will have overcome one of the "excuses" for procrastinating perhaps the most important journalistic practice: talking to absolutely everyone who crosses our path. The way the country is divided – which doesn't apply to Paraná, given the governor's reelection and the anti-Workers' Party vote for president – we easily fall into the fallacy that it's better to leave that controversial subject for later, for after this, for beyond that.
We, journalists, may have indulged in elitist choices. When the word "elite" emerges in scientific articles on political communication, a little demon whispers in our gatekeeper ears: "You've made it in life, you've earned it, you're elite". Not necessarily is the demon wrong; it frequently tells us things more reasonable than a psychiatrist. Becoming or being elite, however, would confer upon us an inflexible role, more like Queen Elizabeth than Winston Churchill. Anyway, who's going to talk to those who don't enter the palace?
During elections, disaster coverage, carnivals, and all sorts of falsely urgent matters, we are tempted or coerced into sacrificing anthropological work, investigation, asking "how does what you're telling me happen?".
The lead questions, the famous "who, what, when, where, why, and how", can be answered by well-trained artificial intelligence. Some newsroom activities are so mechanized that advanced websites have replaced reporters with robots – which I think is great. Properly applied, Newsmaking theory can account for this change. But this doesn't address the need for recognition and participation from the people who read or watch us. The public stage we strive to maintain doesn't have legs other than ours, ears and intelligence other than ours.
The first task to be completed after the elections, however you like, is to visit everyone, everyone, those uncles from the family WhatsApp group, unbearable online and lovely as Saint Mary in person. We need to answer their calls, let them explain why they believe the Supreme Federal Court is working to destroy lives, why they believe that tiny little plot seventeen blocks from the beach is going to be "invaded" by the Landless Workers' Movement (MST), but mainly, why they no longer believe what you and I write, record, or present. And when they tell us it's because "the media is all bought", we'll ask: "Don't be upset, uncle, but how does that happen?"
Let me write a little in the solemn tone of the Bible.
Children, do not worship the lack of time. This is characteristic of professions less important and less prestigious than yours. Never answer "Today, I can't go to Basset Burgers with my friends' friends", and never avoid hearing the same story for the fiftieth time. If a story endures fifty repetitions, it must be good. It is abominable, in any case, that professional success ends in unavailability to go to university, to art exhibitions, or to sit in a different circle where one is not the owner of the truth. End of biblical challenge. That's where it gets complicated, sitting in a different circle where one is not the owner of the truth, because, to some extent, we are obliged to broaden our frames of reference. And this would make us lose our role as "judge of the news". We must recognize the little Sergio Moro who lives within each of us, to prevent him from overreaching, to prevent him from feeding and carrying out Operation Car Wash 2. We must strictly forbid ourselves from devouring the State. In the end, the WhatsApp uncle and we journalists have at least this in common: we don't like to feel cheated or underestimated.
When I refer to journalists, I'm writing about the group I consider my professional community. I write, through sober testimony, from within myself. Because I could only criticize in the "other" (to be a little Habermasian) what I was aware of being criticizable, or, furthermore, my criticism could stem from my personal flaws. Or various other variations. But with or without self-criticism, without or with the best way to communicate to our peers that these criticisms are a bitter medicine for our professional future, we are on the same news Titanic.
In the there and then of the past, it was said to each generation of reporters: "A reporter's place is on the street". The idea was that the news was where there was life, where there were buses and poles disrupting the lives of taxpayers, in the crowds of political or union demonstrations. We go out to write about a summer camp and come back covered in mud, playing flood survivor. How great is this profession!
In the here and now, I reinforce: a reporter's place is on all streets, in any space that can be entered. Why did the dog enter the church? Because the door was open. Wherever there are people, wherever there are conversations about difficulty sleeping, about cholesterol levels, wherever they are talking about watercolor painting, about the influence of sea wave measurements on the formation of shells, right there where the "extremes" are (lovely as Saint Mary), in academic discussion, on the internet, of course, at family parties, there must be a journalist who is interested in human life. If a presenter can resolve a family quarrel, they can handle anything on air.
This text is an invitation to one of the foundations of journalistic training, to interpersonal relationships. It is by listening without prejudice that we rearrange the kaleidoscope of the world, that we feel that fresh, perfumed air of what is new, that we free ourselves from bubbles that smell like cages. It is among peers that we test the ideas in our heads, encounter the first resistance or clear opposition, and mature what is not mature enough.
Report inspires study valuing Amapá quilombola women's ceramic art.
News is an incredible way to popularize subjects, to simplify the complex, to expose varied themes through texts, images, and sounds. This is the magic of journalism, to reach where we cannot and to echo events. As a social science, journalism has a social function to popularize information, and thus, awaken curiosity in recipients, listeners, and viewers.
This happened to me when I still didn't know the Potters of Maruanum. It was in a news report that the click of curiosity was triggered. I remember very well when I first heard about the Potters of Maruanum, I immediately decided that I needed to meet them, and I went to research.
With theoretical knowledge and a field visit in 2011, it was decided: I would research the cultural heritage of the Potters of Maruanum. I had just entered the master's program with a research proposal on the clay tradition in Maruanum.
From a news report came my research theme, which for two years would be the center, the objective to be achieved, with a focus on the principle of intergenerational equity. The potters of Maruanum are quilombola, Amazonian, and ceramist women who reside in the District of Maruanum, belonging to the municipality of Macapá in the State of Amapá.
They received from past generations the tradition of the create-know-how of clay pottery, of Maruanum ceramics. All stages of making clay pottery are carried out according to intergenerational teachings based on rituals, beliefs, and with deep respect for nature.
Thesis on the Potters of Maruanum After the master's degree, the challenge would be another: the doctorate. The research on the Potters of Maruanum continued for another four years. As a researcher, since that time I have sought to give visibility to the cultural heritage of the Potters of Maruanum.
It was in the doctoral thesis that I proposed educational strategies for the conservation of the ceramic tradition of Maruanum. Thus, this scientific research played a fundamental role in offering alternatives to the resolution of a problem of the communities holding this cultural heritage.
I return to the defense that journalism has a social function in the dissemination of research in cultural heritage. So much so that I seek opportunities in the press for the Potters of Maruanum to speak about the ceramic tradition, for me to speak about the research, and for there to be a reverberation of the matriarchal ancestral knowledge that is the pottery of Maruanum. Because it is not enough to research and defend the thesis. Scientific research, like journalism, also has a social function with the communities involved.
Curitiba radio show proves journalism can address grief and depression with levity.
On the 29th of this month, I conclude a cycle as a radio news anchor. At the invitation of João Arruda, the creator of "Health and Wellbeing" on Curitiba's Rádio Cidade 670 AM, I've been on air Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to noon. The experience on AM radio is wonderful because listeners participate with audio messages sent by phone, when they don't call in live. I enjoyed welcoming them with a simple "hello, who's speaking?".
We brought professionals into the studio, in partnership with the Regional Council of Psychology of Paraná, to talk about grief and depression. But if the program's aim is to be light, how can we avoid burdening the audience with topics that feel like paper cuts on the fingertips? Our answer is: get straight to the point, as life usually does.
When the conversation was about loss — which comes in many forms, and at different depths of damage — Dayane Bubalo was in the studio. Dayane Bubalo, an activist for the rights of people with disabilities:
I went blind in 40 minutes.
A week earlier, the ophthalmologist at the IPO Luiz Eduardo de Aguiar Marques Hospital had expressed his concern about the silence of diabetic retinopathy, the disease that blinded Dayane.
While psychologist Mari Mansur was talking about the stages of grief, a listener named "Misael" called in (in quotes due to the uncertainty of the spelling). Misael, a listener of Rádio Cidade.
A year ago, I lost a son. I've never spoken about this subject in public, on social media, nothing, but I wanted to tell you. I also lost two friends to Covid-19. Wear masks.
On the program about depression, I asked psychologist Flávio Voight Komonski directly: "So, what happens when we go to therapy, what's it like?".
He answered in such a friendly way that we received a voice message thanking him for his words, "because therapy isn't just for crazy people!". Of course, we put it on the air.
And we didn't stop there. We had time to discuss what therapeutic approaches are.