Elaíze Farias is the editor of Amazônia Real, a digital media outlet dedicated to telling stories about the violation of Indigenous, environmental and human rights in the Brazilian Amazon. She cofounded it 10 years ago with journalists Kátia Brasil and Liege Albuquerque with no initial financial help. It was essential to Farias and Brasil that they make no compromises by hosting sponsored content on the site or accepting money.
“I became worried that journalism stigmatises Indigenous people,”
Elaíze Farias
What sets Amazônia Real apart is not just the stories it tells, but how it tells them.
Farias doesn’t believe objectivity is possible, given that all journalists have worldviews that inevitably shape how they tell stories. She says western ways of understanding the world are assumed to be “neutral” but centre on economic logic – often missing the mark when it comes to the Amazon.
Through a western lens, for example, the merits of an extractive project can be judged on potential profitability; even people’s wellbeing may be judged by the money in their bank account, and an environmental footprint calculated in carbon emitted rather than species lost. But Farias says many in the Amazon “don’t have the same view”.
“If you come in with this bias in your mind, you might see someone fishing for food and say they are poor, when they see themselves as rich,” she says, which inevitably affects story accuracy.
Farias refuses to be called an activist – a term she says stigmatises journalists – but does believe it shouldn’t be radical for journalists to stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed by the status quo. Amazônia Real explicitly states on its website that it seeks to defend Indigenous people, a stance many news organisations would refuse to take.
“If you’re being neutral,” Farias says, “you’re on the side of the oppressor,” citing Desmond Tutu.
Amazônia Real is now established as a leading media player in the region, respected by readers and competitors, who often republish its stories. And Farias has won several awards for her journalism.
The text above is adapted from The Guardian. One hopes that Farias, too, wins a Nobel Prize, just as the independent Filipino news site Rappler’s co-founder and CEO Maria Ressa did for her courageous work, making history as the first Nobel Laureate from The Philippines.
