Imagine the reader a world in which he woke up, turned on the television and nothing was told about the country or the world. So he would try, in a Sisyphean effort, to open the Internet, look for the website of some newspaper, find out more, but the search would return nothing. And finally, already thirsty, he would leave the house, get in the car and turn on the radio that would only give him music. Maybe it's not so dystopian: today we are on strike. Because journalism cannot die.
The moment is historic. The last general strike by journalists took place in 1982, more than 40 years ago.
Since then, much has changed in the media landscape: television has become more widespread, news channels have emerged, newspapers have migrated to digital, radio has reinvented itself a lot in the wake of podcasts
Perhaps we have never had so many ways to consume journalism as we do now. Paradoxically, perhaps the profession has never been as attacked as it is now.
In addition to the abuses of large companies (see the sad case of Global Media), there is precariousness and low wages.
Basically, uncertainty and the lack of conditions to practice the profession with dignity: just two days ago, another collective dismissal was announced that will affect the comrades at Diário de Notícias and Dinheiro Vivo.
Those who resist do so at the cost of a lot of personal sacrifice. The mental health of journalists is literally through the streets of bitterness, as demonstrated by a podcast launched months ago by the Journalists Union.
In “I Burned! – Let’s Talk About Burnout”, journalists and former journalists tell stories that give us goosebumps, of uninterrupted hours of work, of pressure that could only lead to a sad outcome: the burnout, aka exhaustion.
In January this year, we met for four days for the 5th Congress of Journalists. Over the course of 50 years – since the 25th of April – only five times have professionals in this area, fundamental to democracy, formally come together to debate the future of the profession.
This time, the grand meeting ended in perhaps the most significant way. By unanimous approval and acclaim, around 500 journalists voted in favor of calling for a strike.
There were 24 motions to vote and, to give you an idea, only two, if memory serves me correctly, passed unanimously: a vote of praise for the Global Media comrades and this one for the strike. I myself was able to witness it live and I felt this desire to give a clear signal to society.
It is true that the case of Sul Informação It's a little different because we don't have any structure above. We are the journalists and the owners of the newspaper.
But because no one is an island, today we are going on strike. For us, for our comrades and, above all, for you, dear reader. So that dystopia never becomes reality.
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