![\"\"](\"http:\/\/observingbrazil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/palocci.jpg\" "\\"palocci\\"")
<\/a>In the case of the first major \u2018crisis\u2019 to hit the Rousseff Administration, it appears that zealous coverage of a scandal–for more than two weeks–can be explained principally by the former.<\/p>\nThe Scandal<\/strong><\/p>\n The scandal concerns Antonio Palocci, the President\u2019s Chief of Staff (akin to a prime minister in the Brazilian system), and the issue at hand began with Palocci\u2019s personal estate, which in four years experienced fantastic multiplications. From well under half a million dollars in 2006, by 2011 Palocci\u2019s fortune had expanded twenty-fold, effectively transforming a professional politician into a multimillionaire in less than half a decade. Even more suspicious, most of the money was made in \u2018consulting fees\u2019 during the 2010 presidential election.<\/p>\n To be sure, the rapid enrichment of a once-finance minister (2003-2006) deserves investigation, especially since Palocci\u2019s wealth began to skyrocket just after he became one of President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva\u2019s sacrificial sheep, resigning in the heat of the 2006 Mensal\u00e3o Scandal.<\/p>\n What is Special About the Palocci Case?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yet by the same token, no shortage of untoward behavior, questionable enrichment, or murky contracts can be found in Brazilian politics. It just so happens that the media has arranged its soldiers along this story line and appears unwilling to let it go out with a whimper, unlike the vast majority of stories conforming to this sordid genre.<\/p>\n Hidden Agenda: the Forestry Code?<\/strong><\/p>\n But the dogged media focus goes far beyond ethics and bad apples. The issue is inextricably connected to one of the most important pieces of legislation that the Rousseff administration will consider\u2014the Forestry Code (O C\u00f3digo Forestal) now being considered in the legislature. As a representative for the government\u2019s hard-line stance against illegal deforestation and for conservation, Palocci is an easy target for those seeking to express their dissatisfaction with official prerogatives. Many legislators seek a more \u2018relaxed\u2019 Forestry Code\u2014the code of agribusiness, mining, hydro, and logging interests– an inestimably powerful lobby here in Brazil.<\/p>\n Even the government\u2019s major ally in Congress, the PMDB, supported weakening amendments to the Forestry Code. The PMDB\u2019s perfidy resulted in a tense exchange<\/a> between Rousseff\u2019s Vice-President, Michel Temer (PMDB), and Palocci at the end of May, undoubtedly kindling incendiary media coverage.<\/p>\n Opportunities for Media Criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n Fueling this drama is the media\u2019s persistent and sympathetic coverage of calls for a Palocci crucification. To hit at the government right now is opportune. President Rousseff has demonstrated an unsteady command thus far; her public appearances and displays of authority have been infrequent and unimpressive. The Rousseff government supports environmental legislation that is unpopular with big businesses and industries, many of whom are the media\u2019s top advertisers. Most media outlets also tend to lean right and, in addition to supporting business interests, claim to defend ethical behavior in government. These, in short, are a few of the reasons why the media has marched the Palocci affair into the ground.<\/p>\n Lessons on the Media<\/strong><\/p>\n What can be taken from all of this? First, the media chooses its battles opportunistically and this one just happens to runs along several strategic frontiers. Second, and most regrettably, zealous coverage of the Palocci scandal demonstrates the irony of a media that performs spectacularly as a watchdog once in a while, but that constantly lacks the capacity to act as guide dog. In other words, while outlets indirectly support calls for a Palocci resignation by giving critics air-time, they are short on lending a voice to advocates trying to prevent ethical lapses from occurring in the first place. The Folha de S\u00e3o Paulo did provide some interesting coverage on consulting fees in light of Palocci\u2019s millionaire earnings<\/a>, but these too fall short of looking at the implications and solutions of current public policies and political configurations.<\/p>\n Ironically, a freedom of information law sits in the Senate awaiting passage and, despite a rich opportunity to broach themes related to transparency, the media has barely uttered a whisper about the measure over the past weeks\u2014even though Congress was supposed to pass the law more than 20 days ago, on May 18th. Noise about what holds Brazil back must be balanced by vested coverage of how to move it forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Research shows that the news media\u2019s issue-attention cycle tends to be short, averaging about three days for a major story. When it diverges from this norm, you can bet that the event is either truly sensational or else the media has a vested interest in it. In the case of the first major \u2018crisis\u2019 to Read more about Why the Media Have Made the Palocci Scandal into a Crisis<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,72,73],"class_list":["post-508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-corruption","tag-media","tag-palocci"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1681,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions\/1681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregmichener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Current media attention is not unjustified. \u2018Influence trafficking\u2019 pervades Brazilian politics and ought to be addressed, particularly at the highest levels of government where examples trickle down. Palocci also deserves scrutiny. The Minister\u2019s record is spotty at best, and Rousseff ought to have known better than to bring back a skeleton of Lula\u2019s administration\u2014even if the appointment was Lula\u2019s prerogative, as opposed to her own.<\/p>\n