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Globo Group and the Folha Group, two giants of the media, who
had wrangled for some
years, reconciled and announced a public
feast which
pièce de resistance would be the tasty economic
daily
Gazeta Mercantil. They came up with the luminous idea of joining
forces—divide the cake, i.e.,
the Brazilian market.
By
Alberto Dines
The latest comes from unsuspected daily O Estado de S. Paulo
(Saturday, 3/8, page B 4). Negotiations are in the
final stage for an "association" between
Gazeta Mercantil, the octogenarian economics journal, and Marítima Engenharia e
Petróleo, led by entrepreneur German Efromovich. Whatever route the negotiations take, what we have here is the most dramatic
episode of the most serious economic crisis to fall on the Brazilian press since the beginning of the
20th century.
The crumbling down of Gazeta did not happen overnight and was not the result of the fluctuation in the exchange
rate, the global scenario or the rise in the interest rate.
Gazeta did not topple because it signed unfortunate contracts or
because it made disastrous decisions on the editorial sphere. Such things have happened in other cases, but not in this one.
Albeit a family enterprise, it abstained from interventions in its editorial line and has always maintained unusually high quality
and a rare coherence. Shareholders reserved the administrative and financial sphere for themselves.
What is disgraceful is the following: professionalization and editorial qualification are worth nothing, if the same
standards of competence are not followed in the business operation.
Thus the first act of the tragedy folds: the character imposed his will and chose his destiny. Now he will have to pay
for it. In the second act (always in accordance with the Greek theater paradigm), enter the will and designs of the others, the
external forces. The conflict begins. On stage are three invisible and diabolical beings: the delirium of hegemony, the dynamics
of concentration and the compulsion to mimic.
In October of 1999, the Globo Group and the Folha Group, two giants who had wrangled for some years already,
silently reconciled and, to celebrate, announced a public feast which
pièce de resistance would be the tasty
Gazeta Mercantil, a unique and refined dish that only developed economies are able to create.
Neither seemed preoccupied and operated at full speed ahead, with a green light in all its operations. Both had
obtained phenomenal circulation in their respective dailies, using the magic of gifts. Everything turned out well, nothing could go
wrong. Effective giants, conscious of their power. Invincible.
Inspired by the little devils of ambition, they concluded that their dispute was useless and came up with the
luminous idea of joining forces—divide the cake, i.e., the Brazilian market. Each one would have its slice and screw the other table
guests. If the order of the day abroad was "merger", "concentration" and "diversification", no use reinventing the wheel
here—the recipe should be the same.
The only difference would be the substitution of "fusion" with "partnership". Instead of linking what already
existed—a slow, dangerous and ostensive process—they joined together to produce something that never existed before. Their
excuse was good: a 50 million dollar injection, a few hundred new job posts and a competitor to liquidate
(Gazeta Mercantil). Albeit a market leader,
Gazeta was skating on the edge of insolvency.
The daily Valor Econômico started circulating on Tuesday, May
2nd, 2000, published by a company whose
shareholders (in equal parts) were the Globo and Folha groups. Tragicomic note: on the front page of the first issue, the headline was
"FHC and Lula give out the recipes for the country to grow more".
Mistaken recipes. Not only from the columnists invited to foresee the future of Brazil, but also from the owner group,
soon nicknamed Grupo Bolha [fusion of BO and LHA, meaning "Bubble"].
The executioner of Gazeta has had, from the beginning, a high editorial standard. It is the newspaper of the people
who make decisions and form public opinion—a success. On the other hand, the owner company, symbol of the new
economy, walks a dangerous impasse. The giants [glo]Bo & [fo]Lha started fighting again, the business did not prosper as they
fantasized and, exhausted by further unhappy mirages, they now have no cash to invest or to buy the opposite part.
The third act has started already. Like in many tragedies (classical, Elizabethan or modern), it runs the risk of never
ending—from an absolute lack of characters. Those who started it have collapsed on stage, bloodless, delivered into the hands
of Destiny.
Alberto Dines, the author, is a journalist, founder and researcher at LABJOR—Laboratório de Estudos Avançados
em Jornalismo (Laboratory for Advanced Studies in Journalism) at UNICAMP (University of Campinas) and editor of
the Observatório da Imprensa. He also writes a column on cultural issues for the Rio daily
Jornal do Brasil. You can reach him by email at
obsimp@ig.com.br
Translated by Tereza Braga, email:
tbragaling@cs.com
This article was originally published March 12, 2003, in Observatório da Imprensa
- www.observatoriodaimprensa.com.br
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