O Estado de S. Paulo

O Estado de S. Paulo (Portuguese pronunciation: [u isˈtadu dʒi sɐ̃w̃ ˈpawlu], The State of São Paulo), also known as O Estadão or simply Estadão, is a daily right-wing (conservative) newspaper published in the Metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil, and distributed mainly nationally. It is owned by Grupo Estado, a holding company which publishes the Jornal da Tarde and owns the radios Rádio Eldorado AM and FM and the Agência Estado, largest news agency in Brazil.

It has the second largest circulation in the City of São Paulo, only behind Folha de S.Paulo, and the fourth largest overall in Brazil. It is nicknamed the Estadão (lit. "Big Estado"). The journal was founded relying on republican ideals on January 4, 1875, and was firstly called A Província de São Paulo^[2] ("The Province of São Paulo").

In a 2007 ad campaign, the motto of the newspaper is Estadão, o jornal que pensa ÃO ("Estadão, the newspaper that thinks ÃO [big]"). -ão is a Portuguese augmentative suffix.

The current publisher is "O Estado de S. Paulo S.A."^[3]

History

The term Província ("Province") was preserved until January 1890, one month after the fall of the monarchy and the regime change to the republican institution in Brazil.^[2] Although the newspaper supported the change, it showed that it was completely independent, refusing even to serve its interests to the ascendant Republican Party of São Paulo.

Current symbol of the newspaper.

When the then editor in chief Francisco Rangel Pestana left to work in a project of the Constitution, in Petrópolis, the young editor Julio de Mesquita effectively took on the direction of Estado and initiated a series of innovations. One of the innovations was the engagement of the agency Havas, back then the largest in the world.

The Estadão pioneered the newspaper selling system in 1875, when it was sold on the streets, instead of the subscription-only system adopted by all other newspapers in Brazil before. As first, this new way of selling motivated many jokes and mockery, but ultimately all rivals adopted the same system. Today, newspapers in Brazil are sold in small street newspapers/magazines shops, and by single sellers located in main avenues of the biggest cities. Back in the 19th century, the Estadão was sold by only one man, a French immigrant, who carried his newspapers in a bag, while riding a horse, and announcing himself with a cornet.

19th century

In the end of the 19th century, the Estado was already the largest newspaper in São Paulo, overcoming the Correio Paulistano. Property of the Mesquita family since 1902,^[4] the Estado supported the allied cause in World War I, suffering reprisal from the German community in the city, that removed all the announcements from the newspaper. Despite this, the Mesquitas maintained the position of their diary. During the war, the vespertine edition of the newspaper began to circulate around the country. It was known as Estadinho (lit. "Little Estado"), directed by the then young Júlio de Mesquita Filho.

In 1924, the newspaper Estado was banned from circulating for the first time, after the defeat of the tenentes' rebellion that shook the entire city. Julio Mesquita, who tried to intermediate a dialogue between the rebels and the government, was imprisoned and taken to Rio de Janeiro, being freed shortly later.^[5]

With the death of the old director of 1927, his son Julio de Mesquita Filho assumed the directory along with his brother Franscisco, the latter taking care of the financial parts of the newspaper.

In 1930 the Estado, connected to the Democratic Party, supported the candidature of Getúlio Vargas for the Liberal Alliance.^[5] With the victory of Vargas, the newspaper saw the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 as a mark of the end of the oligarchy system.^[5]

The so-called Grupo Estado assumed in 1932 the leadership of the constitutionalist revolution. With its defeat, many people from the directory were exiled, including Júlio de Mesquita Filho and Francisco Mesquita^[5] One year later, in the month of August, Getúlio Vargas invited Armando de Salles Oliveira to be the governor in São Paulo. Armando Salles, that was son-in-law of Júlio Mesquita (already deceased by then) imposed as a condition to accept the job the amnesty of the rebels of 1932 and a convocation of a Constituent assembly. Vargas agreed and Júlio de Mesquita Filho and Francisco Mesquita, as well as other exiled people returned to Brazil.^[6]

Headquarters of the newspaper, on the Marginal Tietê.

Years later, with the appearance of the Estado Novo, the newspaper maintained the opposition to the regime and, in March 1940, it was invaded by DOPS (part of the government that controlled and restrained people and movements that were against the regime in the Estado Novo) that, with absurdity and mockery, said that "guns were arrested" in the redaction.The newspaper was initially closed and afterwards was confiscated by the dictatorship, being administrated by DIP (Department of Imprense and Propaganda) until 1945, when the Estado was given back by the Supreme Federal Court to its legitimate owners. The numbers published after the intervention are not considered in the history of the diary.

Shortly after World War II the Estado enjoyed great advances, with the increase in editing and of its good reputation. In the 1950s, the Major Quedinho Street headquarters were built, adjacent to the Hotel Jaraguá. That was the phase when the section Internacional ("International") of the newspaper, directed by the journalist Giannino Carta and by Ruy Mesquita, became known as the most complete in any national newspaper. From that time until the 1970s, O Estado showed almost exclusively international news on its first page.

República Nova

During the República Nova ("New Republic") (1946–1964) the Estado profiled itself to the National Democratic Union of Carlos Lacerda and opposed all the other governments, especially João Goulart. In 1954, O Estado de S. Paulo led a national campaign against the elected democratic President, Getúlio Vargas, forcing him unto suicide. In 1962, the director Julio de Mesquita Filho even wrote a Roteiro da Revolução ("Guide to Revolution"), trying to unify the opposition of civilians to the army, the then called "boasting party", that from the beginning of the Republic used to intervene in Brazilian politics. In 1964, the Estado supported the military coup^[6] and the indirect election of Castelo Branco. Shortly after the Institutional Act n° 2, that dissolved the other political parties, the journal broke from the regime.^[6]

Censorship

On November 13, 1968, the Estado editor was arrested because of Mesquita Filho's refusal to eliminate from the section Notas e Informações ("Notes and Information") the editorial Instituições em Frangalhos ("Institutions in Frazzles").^[7] where he denounced the end of any normal and simple democratic appearance. From then on, the newspaper began disputing censored editions of its news by the Brazilian Federal Police, unlike other national newspapers that accepted to be censored.

With the death of Mesquita Filho, the Estado was directed by Julio de Mesquita Neto. Then, the newspaper gained worldwide visibility when it denounced the previous censorship of its publication of verses of the Portuguese classic The Lusiad, by Luís de Camões.^[7] In 1974, it received the Prêmio Pena de Ouro da Liberdade ("Golden Feather of Liberty Prize"), bestowed by the International Federation of Editions and Newspapers.^[7]

In the 1970s, the newspaper ran into debt because of the construction of its new headquarters by the Tiete' river and went through a financial crisis, competing with a new standard of journalism represented by Folha de S. Paulo.

1980s

In 1986, the Estado hired the renowned journalist Augusto Nunes to be its chief editor. He updated the news bulletin of Estado and endeavored a series of reformed graphics, that would result in the adoption, in 1991, of colored printing in daily editions. Before that, Estado was not issued on Monday and holidays.

1990s

In 1996, Julio de Mesquita Neto died and Ruy Mesquita, his brother, became the new director. Previously, Ruy directed Jornal da Tarde, owned by the Estado network.

Grupo Estado

After an unsuccessful experience in the area of telecommunications, the Estado network passed by a restructuring in 2003 and most of the Mesquita family lost their directing roles. Massive layoffs also occurred.

After balancing its budget, the Estado endeavored new graphic reformulation in October 2004. It also created new notebooks and received many prizes for excellence in graphic display.

Other than the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, the Estado network has control over the OESP Mídia (1984), company that runs advertisements. Owned by Grupo Estado are the radios Rádio Eldorado AM and FM (1972) and the Estado Agency (1970), largest news agency in Brazil. Jornal da Tarde (1966)^[6] was discontinued^[8] in 2012.

In 2013, another big reorganization^[9] followed. Employees were laid off, the paper reduced its numbers of pages by canceling some sections and mixing a others.

Notas e Informações

The oldest of all the sections, known as Notas e Informações ("Notes and Information"), always seen on page 3, maintains the traditional posture of the newspaper to unify, in its editions, political conservatism and economic liberalism, being one of flagship columns of O Estado de S. Paulo. It was an enthusiastic supporter of the 1964 military coup d'état in Brazil and of the dictatorship then installed.^[10] Up to this day, it continues to be hold right-wing, conservative positions in the Brazilian political spectrum.^[11]

References

Further reading

• Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980) pp 117–23

External links

• (in Portuguese) Chronology and Historic summary of the Journal
• (in Portuguese) O Estado de S. Paulo online edition
• (in Portuguese) O Acervo Estadão (digital archive 1875-present)
• (in Portuguese) Agência Estado
• (in Portuguese) Code of conduct and ethics