It has been a tough couple of years for Brazil, once the poster child of emerging markets. After unleashing the largest corruption probe in history (involving everyone from large corporate executives to high-ranking politicians), impeaching President Dilma Rousseff and replacing her cabinet for an equally unpopular white-male-only cast led by Michel Temer, and facing the threat of zika amidst the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics, the slew of negative news continues to strike the largest South American nation.
As detailed by The Intercept, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, and its polling company Datafolha, originally reported that 50% of citizens supported the new government led by Temer, 32% wanted Rousseff reinstated and only 3% wanted new elections.
Shortly after original story was published by Folha de Sao Paulo, the website Tijolaco noticed that the URL to the Datafolha link contained a “v2”, implying that there would likely be a version 1.
Investigators at Tijolaco were able to guess the correct URL for “v1”, which had not been published but remained live in Folha’s server. This version contained evidence that completely contradicted what Folha initially reported. Namely, an overwhelming 62% of Brazilians are in favor of hosting new elections, and not the alleged 3%.
After the story broke, the evidence began to mount that Folha de Sao Paulo had deliberately omitted this information from its published version. When the press questioned the newspaper for its decision, Folha’s executive director Sérgio Dávila stated “the prerogative of the paper [is] to chose what it believes is ‘most journalistically relevant’ when it decides to publish a poll.”
And there you have it. Welcome to a world where the media decides what is relevant for the public based on whether it serves the purposes of the establishment.
Then again, as our readers are well aware, this type of corruption is not an exclusive issue for Brazil. As we have detailed extensively (see Leaked DNC Emails Confirm Democrats Rigged Primary, Reveal Extensive Media Collusion and State Department Admits It Deliberately Cut Video Confirming It Lies To The Public), it seems perhaps that Folha is simply taking a cue from President Obama’s “most transparent administration ever” and feeding the narratives it finds convenient to remain in power.
via http://ift.tt/2afbZqU Tyler Durden