The power of journalism when done humanely
It was this year, in June, that the protests - in major Brazilian cities - began to take shape. Students went to the streets to try hard to change their country. Hashtags like #ogiganteacordou (the giant awoke) invaded timelines and paralyzed classes and streets. The young people who took to the streets had the approval of at least 84% of the population. And the government, in response, announced measures that would meet the demands of the protesters. It was the largest mobilization in the country since the one for the resignation of President Fernando Collor de Mello in 1992. In a country like Brazil, where problems are bigger than solutions, the protests became the target of pride. And also an example of doing journalism. Recognized as one of the best Brazilian multimedia journalist, Rodrigo Lopes, who works in the newspaper Zero Hora, - one of the largest newspapers in Brazil, - covered the entire event on his Twitter (@RLopesReporter). In June, 17th at 11:17 AM, Rodrigo post it on his Twitter that he was on his way to the protest which would probably stop the city of São Paulo. After that, there were still five more tweets contextualizing the situation: The reporter told everything about the place, how he was feeling at that moment, etc. At 2:29 PM Rodrigo definitely begin to tell what was happening. Amid images, personal opinions of his own, and specific sentences of the protesters, Rodrigo made a complete coverage. So complete that even the Twitter accounts of the others newspapers gave ” RT ” in his tweets. The website of the newspaper where he works is reputed to be complete - however, at the time of the protests, it was the Rodrigo’s account that people accessed. The event (protests in Brazil) was already planned. Everyone was expecting it that day. The older people, who typically do not access the internet, preferred watching the protests on the television. However, everyone who knew even a little bit of technology, chosen Rodrigo’s account. The journalist covered the event in a humane way - different from news sites and even Twitters of other journalists. He post the difficulties he was facing and compared the event with other journalistic events he have passed. For a person who doesn’t have much interest in news, is easier to understand the fact on the way he presented. The reader, who usually sees the journalist as someone “bigger”, stands at the same level: The human. The reason is obvious: This type of covering an event makes the reader think that he/she could also be there, amid bombs and screams. Is not very different from films: When the story is about something that could happen in any one life, it becomes much more interesting. The coverage of Rodrigo was unlike any other in the country. Was human. Through photographs and expressive phrases that protesters spoke screaming, the story was actually very close to reality. The journalist, who has 9,968 followers on Twitter, stole the attention of readers - not only from his newspaper but also from all the others of the country.