JORNAL CORREIO DA MANHÃ
Address: Avenida Gomes Freire, 471, Centro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Themes: The 1964 Coup D’état; Political-cultural Resistance and Memory
Translated from the Portuguese by Lara Norgaard
Correio da Manhã was a Rio de Janeiro newspaper known throughout its history as one of the most important political publications in Brazil. Generally regarded as an opinion paper, it consistently assumed strong political positions. The editorials “Basta!” (“Enough!”) and “Fora!” (“Get Out!”) published on March 31st and April 1st 1965 are considered two of the most forceful examples of mainstream media’s support for the coup that removed João Goulart from the presidency and put a military dictatorship in his place. However, the newspaper was also one of the first publications to take a public stand against the atrocities that the regime committed in the days following the coup. Because of that critical stance, repressive agencies gradually launched a series of attacks against the newspaper, slowly building to the publication’s demise in 1974.
Founded by the young lawyer-turned-journalist from Rio Grande do Sul Edmundo Bittencourt, Correio da Manhã made its intentions clear in its first issue, published on June 15, 1901. The 6-page edition included an editorial stating that the publication would be an opinion paper in defense of the people, without any ties to political parties. The newsroom was originally located on Rua Moreira César, 117 (now Rua do Ouvidor) and then in the Largo da Carioca, before settling on fixed location: Avendia Gomes Freire, 471, Centro do Rio de Janeiro.
As a self-proclaimed independent paper, Correio da Manhã published both in support and opposition to nearly every Brazilian government. It sought to represent the urban, middle class reader in a legalistic and liberal tradition. Its criticism was grounded on respect for the law, a value held above any actions taken by the state. Over the course of the paper’s history, this editorial line would inspire notorious articles. During the Estado Novo dictatorship, the paper was run by the founder’s son, Paulo Bittencourt, and consistently critiqued rigid and interventionist policy even though it support the regime from the beginning.
During the political crisis that began in the early 1960s when Jânio Quadros stepped down from the presidency, the paper was faithful to its legalistic tradition and supported Quadros’ vice president João Goulart’s assumption of the role. It even initially supported reforms that Goulart – referred to as “Jango” in Brazil – proposed. Together with the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, it encouraged Brazil’s congress in the Definição das Reformas de Base – the articulation of broad based socioeconomic reforms. However, the paper was against political “radicalism” that might corrupt the nation’s trajectory. Like almost all of Brazil’s mainstream media, Correio da Manhã feared that the left’s more radical positions would curb the liberal ideals that the press defended at the time. João Goulart’s resignation would, in this case, solve an imminent crisis. The paper would emphatically demand Jango’s ousting in its editorials. Published practically during the coup itself, “Basta!” and “Fora!” are considered symbols of the paper’s political position at the time. They are also some of the clearest examples of how a significant portion of the Brazilian public came to see the coup.
Niomar Moniz Sodré Bittencourt was in charge of the paper at the time, having taken over the business after her husband, Paulo Bittencourt, died in November 1963. In a rapid reversal of the newspaper’s values, she began to be identified as one of the fiercest critics of the dictatorial regime. The paper began shifting its strict liberal perspective to speak out more directly and forecefully denounce the regime. That resulted in a shift in audience: while the readership was theoretically made up of the more conservative middle class, the paper’s shift spoke to students, intellectuals, and politicians in opposition to the regime. Carlos Heitor Cony published direct critiques of the dictatorship in his column “A arte de falar mal” (“The Art of Speaking Ill”) starting on April 2, 1964, which led him to be imprisoned six times.
After the First Institutional Act (AI-1) on April 9, 1964, Correio da Manhã began to systematically expose the regime’s arbitrary actions. The paper’s consolidation of its critical attitude was directly proportional to the embargos that the publication endured. From that point onwards, the newspaper suffered a drastic reduction in advertising revenue, which was essential for any media organization to function at the time. Major agencies even cut off their contracts with the newspaper at the request of the military itself, and the newspaper gradually grew economically weaker.
The situation intensified on December 7, 1968 when a bomb was planted in one of the paper’s classified agencies located on the Avenue Rio Branco in the Centro neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. No one was hurt, but the explosion caused significant damage, shattering windows, blasting marble, and gauging out a nearly 3-foot crater in the newsroom floor. According to the paper’s report on the following day, the attack resulted in roughly 300 thousand cruzeiros novos in damage. Throughout the official advertising boycott, the publication had managed to stay above water because of classifieds. In other words, this attack was clearly the regime’s attempt to intimidate and undermine the publication.
One week later, mere hours before the Fifth Institutional Act (AI-5) was decreed on December 13, 1968, agents from the Department of Political and Social Order (DOPS/GB), which was located just blocks away from the Correio da Manhã building, invaded the newsroom on Rua Gomes Freire. Guns in hand, officers entered the building, shot the ceiling in the lobby, and kidnapped Osvaldo Peralva, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief. Following the incident, 11 censors were placed in the paper’s office until January 6 of the following wear when the publication was informed that there would no longer be previous censorship for the paper’s content.
Once the direct censorship lifted, the newspaper prepared would come to be considered the paper’s most historic issue – though the edition would never reach the streets, as it was apprehended as it was being printed. The headline “Press Censorship Lifted” was stamped on the front cover, titling a denunciation of everything that had been removed from publication while the paper suffered direct censorship. It exposed a series of violations, arbitrary acts, imprisonments, and torture that the dictatorship had committed. The next editorial – “Uncensored” – was a full critique of the ways in which newspaper content had been curtailed.
Because of this issue, DOPS/GB agents invaded the Correio da Manhã newsroom yet again. The president of the paper, Niomar Moniz Sodré Bittencourt, was arrested and taken to the São Judas Tadeu women’s prison. That same day, she was transferred to the Felinto Muller Hospital. She managed to survive an attempted poisoning, which occurred when a supposed staff member created a gas leak in the annexed bathroom, taking advantage of the fact that all of the exits to Bittencourt’s room were closed. She was then transferred to the Corpo de Bombeiros Hospital. Bittencourt also spent a few days under house arrest, where she was observed 24/7 by detectives in front of her building. In total, Bittcourt spent two months under some form of imprisonment.
Direct censorship returned to the newspaper while its president was under arrest. On February 26, 1969, the 1st Navy Audit suspended the paper’s circulation for five days. Additionally, the DOPS/GB shut down the newsroom completely because of a decision in the National Security Law. Niomar Bittencourt returned to her position on March 13, 1969. Two days earlier, the paper had entered into a composition agreement with creditors, as it had fallen into an extreme financial crisis. Nearly half of its reporters had been laid off.
With no viable alternative, Bettencourt made a deal with a group of businessmen from the Metropolitana Company in September 1969. The leaders of the company, Maurício Nunes de Alencar and Federico Gomes da Silva, promised to revitalize the business and return it to Bettencourt free of debt. The Metropolitana group received the right to run the paper over the course of four years and five months, though the official ownership of Correio da Manhã S/A remained in Bettencourt’s hands. Bettencourt would be allowed to supervise the paper, but she would have no power to act. On September 11, the newspaper published an editorial entitled “Withdrawn,” explaining these circumstances to the public.
Nearly 4 million cruzeiros in debt, the newspaper temporarily belonged to a business group with ties to the future transportation minister Mario Andrezza, who intended to expand his political clout. The Metropolitana group managed its businesses with dubious administrative practices and served only to worsen the newspaper’s economic decline. Bettencourt asserted that the company acted under the military’s orders. At the beginning of 1973, the newspaper cut its daily page count from 16 to 12 pages, and then to 10, and finally 8 pages in its last issues. With time, the company accumulated more debt – totally nearly 15 million cruzeiros in 1974.
Bettencourt objected to the business’s handling of the lease in court, claiming breach of contract. She sought to denounce the Metropolinana group’s deliberate attempt to shut the paper down in the House of Representatives. Bettencourt had her colleagues spread the news of the legal fight, which the regime was trying to halt. They sent word to the papers O Globo and Jornal do Brasil. The idea was that these media organizations would duly publish the irregularities that the Metropolitana group had committed, articulated in a statement by representative Thales Ramalho (MDB).
None of these appeals ended in concrete results. The business, with nearly uncontrollable debt, was already politically and editorially weak. Despite this, Bettencourt persisted in her fight to regain control of the newspaper up until its final issue. Correio da Manhã’s last edition went to newsstands on July 8, 1974. The newspaper would be remembered as an important voice of political opinion in the press, but it died with a meager 8-page issue. A mere 3 thousand copies went to newsstands that day, an insignificant number for a paper that used to publish an average of 200 thousand copies during its peak.