Pulitzer Center Update November 21, 2024
Workshop Encourages Journalism Students To Use the Present To Discuss the Amazon’s Future
Country:
Organized by the Pulitzer Center in partnership with the Chico Mendes Committee, the initiative proposes a discussion about journalistic and communication practices.
One of the Brazilian states that was most affected this year by the prolonged drought, Acre has experienced periods of a public health emergency. It has recorded alarmingly high levels of air pollution caused by the growing number of forest fires and the lowest ever water levels of major rivers that supply the population and act as transportation routes, reflecting signs of climate change in the Amazon region.
Living in this scenario, a group of journalism students from the Federal University of Acre was encouraged to use the present to discuss the Amazon region’s future, critically analyzing the socio-environmental situation and suggesting news stories that could address the impacts on the local population from various angles.
Proposals ranged from showing the reality of residents of a riverside community isolated by drought to discussing the construction of a transnational highway in the middle of the Amazon rainforest to link Acre to Peru.
This was the result of the Journalistic and Creative Narrative Workshop, which was organized in September by the Pulitzer Center in partnership with the Chico Mendes Committee, as part of the Youth Festival, with the aim of increasing young people’s communication regarding socio-environmental issues.
“I think this type of activity is a very important tool, as it allows us to cross-reference the knowledge of local journalists and future professionals with journalists who have the Pulitzer Center’s support to develop news stories with a global scope,” said journalist and anthropologist Fábio Zuker, who taught the two-day workshop.
Zuker is a Pulitzer Center grantee and a researcher at the Institute of Brazilian Studies at the University of São Paulo (USP). It was with the Pulitzer Center's support that he published the special report "At the Point Where the Amazon Meets the Cerrado: Drought, Hunger and Poison,” in Portuguese on the website O Joio e O Trigo. The report was in partnership with photojournalist Avener Prado.
The investigation tracked the impacts of infrastructure construction projects, in particular dams and canals, on the food security and health of the Indigenous population of Bananal Island, which is in the state of Tocantins. It was one of four reports used as support material for the workshop aimed at encouraging journalistic coverage of the Amazon region’s different contexts and the ecological and health consequences and impacts on the lives of the local populations.
The other three reports discussed during the activities were:
- “Paving the Amazon”: This report was written by journalist Fernanda Wenzel and depicted one of the forest’s most important regions, in the state of Pará. It was published with the support of the Pulitzer Center, having been published on the ((o))eco portal and on Piauí magazine's website.
- “Barcarena, a Chernobyl in the Amazon" was written and photographed by multimedia journalist Cícero Pedrosa Neto, also a Pulitzer Center grantee, as the result of a journalistic investigation associated with his academic research in anthropology, both involving quilombola and riverside communities in the municipality that is facing the effects of aluminum production.
- Ogronegócio, the Militia and Coup-Mongering is a series of multimedia reports produced by journalist Daniel Camargos, who traveled 6,000 kilometers throughout the states of Mato Grosso and Pará to understand the alliance between Bolsonaro and the violent wing of agribusiness in the Amazon region.
“Having this discussion within the Amazon region, about the Amazon, and the ways to protect it is very important," said a participant. Image by Fábio Zuker. Brazil. 2024.
Discussion and reflection
During their analysis of the support material, the students discussed topics such as the way the news stories are told, the main characters and even ethical issues, from the point of view of the relationship between journalists and interviewees.
“Taking part in the workshops was a key experience, extremely important for adding to my CV (curriculum vitae). Ethical and reliable journalism, such as that encouraged by the Pulitzer Center, plays a fundamental role in issues related to the Amazon, which are becoming increasingly urgent,” said Diogo José de Souza Santos, a third-year journalism student at the Federal University of Acre.
For Santos, “journalism needs to expose and bring a critical view of the problems that are advancing in society, particularly with regard to climate issues.”
At the end of the workshops, the participants presented their own suggestions for stories.
“Having this discussion within the Amazon region, about the Amazon, and the ways to protect it is very important. The outcome of the workshop contributes in a number of ways, whether it's training new media professionals or bringing other people into the discussion and combating misinformation,” explains Victor Manoel, a journalist from the Chico Mendes Committee, who accompanied the activities.
According to Manoel, the population suffers from the lack of public policies in the state of Acre and that's why journalism’s role is essential.
“At the same time as the workshop, the city [Rio Branco] was full of smoke from fires and hosting the state’s largest agribusiness show. It is our opinion that having a space like the workshop to discuss all these issues adds new measures, dreams, and projects that broaden the discussion and reinforce the importance of Pulitzer, the committee, and other actors in discussing the future. When we not only think, but also take action and build projects, putting what has been discussed into practice, the benefit for the Amazon is even greater,” he said.
Watch journalist Fábio Zuker talk about the workshop on Instagram here.
