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Misuse of emergency financial aid spread across Rio Grande do Sul

First published in Zero Hora. Click here and here to read the original stories.

Summary and impact of the content on the community

The reporters were sought by the Rio Grande do Sul townsfolk with tips on wealthy people who had withdrawn emergency aid meant for the needy. The journalists accessed the government website and confirmed that the names given were listed as beneficiaries. The next step was to find signs of wealth about these people (properties, vehicles, trips) on their social media, as well as to check whether they were civil servants (and thus forbidden from getting benefits). After this verification, the final step was to find these people’s phone numbers and contact them. In some cases, the journalists were threatened. The material which was published served as a basis for investigations that have reached over 600 suspects in Rio Grande do Sul.

FULL STORY:

Misuse of emergency financial aid spread across Rio Grande do Sul

Cases of people with good purchasing power receiving the R$ 600 meant to soften the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis abound.

How about marrying in a heavenly beach in the Caribbean, along the shoreline, and spending your honeymoon in a luxury resort? The ceremony’s even got a set date. A website was specifically created to tell the couple’s story. There, you have all the information so guests can arrive at the destination. Ana Paula Brocco, the bride, is among those who have received R$ 600 in financial aid from the government, a policy created for freelancers, informal workers, small business owners and unemployed people hit by the pandemic.

In social media, Ana Paula, who is from the northwestern town of Espumoso, shows she’s been to the Caribbean and to Paris. When questioned via telephone about receiving financial aid, she confirms having done so and then becomes silent.

Ana Paula’s lawyer, Nicole Frohlich Soares, says her client fits the aid program’s criteria and that the honeymoon will be funded by a reward her fiancé received from a bank. Ana Paula managed to prevent, in court, the news story about her case from being published, but the injunction was overturned (read more below).

Reports such as this one reached the RBS Investigation Group (IG) through citizens who are outraged at what they perceive to be injustices. On one side, people without computers (or who are unable to access the overwhelmed Caixa Econômica Federal website) spend nights before banks, trying to become eligible for the program.

On the other end, people with a good standard of living, people who are educated and able to access high-speed internet, get to swiftly obtain financial aid, despite being far from bereft. This disparity has become recurring in Rio Grande do Sul, as witnessed by reporters. Among the 53.9 million Brazilians eligible for government support, many have their own homes, their own cars, and a constant economic activity.

Among those pinpointed by the IG as aid beneficiaries (receiving between R$ 600 and R$ 1,200, depending on the case), we find a renowned architect and a real estate business partner in Veranópolis. A dentist, some business owners and some politicians (plus some of their family members) in Nova Roma do Sul. A civil servant in Nova Pádua. A businessman in Encantado. And also this woman from Espumoso who leads this news story, whose wedding is scheduled to happen in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic).

In the northern town of Tapejara, nutritionist Letícia Roman Guzzo shows up as a R$ 600 beneficiary. This amount equals six consultations at the town clinic she belongs to. We called that place:

Reporter — How much does a consultation cost?

Receptionist  — R$ 110 through a private plan.

In social media, Letícia appears in pictures in Paris and Barcelona. She’s gone on cruises. When asked about the financial aid, she did not respond to any messages, nor did she pick up the phone.

Many citizens are outraged that government aid is received by people with good purchasing power. So much so, that the town of Veranópolis, in the Serra region, woke up on June 10 to a banner displayed beside the local soccer stadium, bearing the words:

“I’m a fat cat and I got six hundred…Welcome to Veranópolis! Here we have over 2,500 welfare receivers, many of them irregular. Almost 2 million in public money for the first installment. Corruption begins within each person.”

The man who put up the banner did not wish to be identified. A similar banner appeared in Garibaldi three days later.

Rio Grande do Sul Federal Police superintendent José Dornelles promises to take action against fraudsters, using data cross-checking and cybernetic tools to do so.

“Generally speaking, the crimes being done are computer device invasion, theft by means of fraud, unauthorized alteration of an information system, major larceny and insertion of false data into an information system, in accordance with each case’s specifications”, Dornelles summarizes.

Are the emergency aid irregularities a result of fraud, opportunism or a mistake? A little bit of each, according to supervisory bodies such as the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU, in Portuguese), which has already identified 620,000 Brazilians under suspicion of having received emergency aid illegally. Part of them in Rio Grande do Sul. Possible irregularities were found through cross-checking data and statements regarding income, CPF and goods under beneficiaries’ names.

This happens because all it takes is vouching for the necessity of aid and finding loopholes in the targeted professional categories. Such is the case for small business owners: a passage in the government ordinance which states that this kind of professional may be contemplated. However, a fair amount of said owners does not fit another prerequisite for welfare: only those who did not receive taxable income over R$ 28,500 in 2018 may be entitled to aid. This means , on average, R$  2,300 in monthly income (formal or otherwise). Even so, these small business owners receive aid, due to flaws in the program’s oversight.

How to inform the authorities.

The proper channel for informing authorities about fraud is the Fala.Br system, available through this link or through the numbers 121 or 0800-707-2003.

Criteria for receiving emergency aid:

  • Being over 18 years old; exceptions made in the case of teenage mothers
  • Not having active formal employment
  • Not receiving benefits paid by social security, such as retirement pay, pensions or Continuing Benefit Conveyance (BPC, in Portuguese)
  • Not being a beneficiary of unemployment insurance, insurance closures or federal coonditional cash transfer, with the exception of Bolsa Família
  • Belonging to a family with a monthly income per person of up to half a minimum wage (R$ 522.50) or with a total monthly income of up to three minimum wages (R$ 3,135)
  • Not having received, in 2018, taxable income over R$ 28,559.70, i.e. not having had to file an income tax return in 2019
  • Being a small business owner, an individual contributor to the General Social Welfare Policy or an informal worker, even if unemployed
  • 620,000 payments blocked around the country

The Comptroller General’s Office (CGU, in Portuguese) and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) have analyzed 30.5 million emergency aid payments since April. They found nonconformities in about 620,000 benefits, equivalent to 2% of all payments, according to data obtained by the TV show Fantástico, which is broadcast by RBS TV and Rede Globo. The CGU, on the other hand, has identified many property owners or people with income that are not entitled to receiving aid, such as:

  • 86,632 people who own vehicles worth over R$ 60,000
  • 74,682 business partners with active employees
  • 22,942 beneficiaries with tax residences in foreign countries
  • 21,856 high-cost watercraft owners
  • 17,000 dead people in whose names benefit payments were made
  • 85 campaign donors of over R$ 10,000

What the Ministry of Citizenship says:

The Ministry of Citizenship, responsible for managing emergency aid, claims to work around the clock towards the evolution of the greatest benefit ever created, on a national level, in order to aid the most vulnerable among the population. The resources allocated to this act have surpassed R$ 150 billion. It’s far from an easy task says minister Onyx Lorenzoni, due to the meager speed available for building, installing and revising constantly each working process.

Emergency aid uses a governance model which creates control and oversight partnerships with the Comptroller General’s Office (CGU) and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU). This creates audit trails which are used to identify, enact recovery efforts and provide feedback in order to improve analysis for each bundle of requests for emergency aid. The information fed into the website and the emergency aid app are cross-checked with several official data banks for documentation and economic and social situations. Besides answering for their crimes, those who defy the law are subject to reimbursement of received amounts.

RBS TV’s 11-day censorship

For 11 days, RBS TV was prohibited from publishing a news story about the emergency aid withdrawn by tradesperson Ana Paula Pagnussatti Brocco, from Espumoso. She took to the courts and managed to enact, on two occasions, preventive censorship regarding news stories about whether she fulfills the criteria for receiving benefits.

Judge Daniel da Silva Luz, from the district of Espumoso, granted an injunction that prevented her name and image to be “published” and “disclosed” in news stories. A fine of R$ 50,000 was set for disclosure. RBS TV appealed the injunction, putting forth the argument that the Brazilian Constitution prohibits preventive censorship. The censorious injunction was maintained by Associate Judge Maria Isabel de Azevedo Souza, from the 19th Civil Chamber of the Court. The censorship was overturned, on the 26th, under decree from AJ Maria Isabel herself, who reconsidered her initial decision. The magistrate considered that there was no “exceptional situation” that would justify preventive intervention towards the freedom of the press.

UNDER SUSPICION

  • Vineyard owner and dentist are among those who received emergency aid without needing it
  • News story also reveals city hall servant and judge’s husband received R$ 600 unduly as well

In the emergency aid bonanza, a vineyard owner is receiving the money allocated by the government towards needy workers. Such is the case of businessman Divanildo Kloss, from Nova Roma do Sul, in the Serra region, who received R$ 600. He lives in a cozy home and his family owns a building in the downtown area. On the phone, Kloss says he applied as a joke and will give back the money.

“I didn’t want to receive it, I gave it back, I just did it to mess around. I just wanted to see if it was going to go through or not, see? I’d never want [the benefits]. I though: as if, it’s never going to go through, since I’ve got some property there. If it got into my bank account, I’ll give it back; I neither need  nor want it.”

When informed that his son is also on the list, he replied, “For that, you’ll have to call him. If he’s getting money, I’m not aware, I didn’t know. If he’s signed up, he’ll give it back, no issue. That’s wrong, very wrong.”

On social media, Emanuel Kloss, Divanildo’s son, usually records his patronage of restaurants, plus pictures of beaches and extreme sports. In a picture from last year, he receives the keys to a brand new truck. He did not wish to provide a statement.

The list of those who have received emergency aid while being in good economic circumstances is quite long in Nova Roma do Sul. It includes a dentist, Aline Scapinello, daughter of a known politician from the town. She’s travelled to places such as Angra dos Reis, Arraial do Cabo and Rio de Janeiro, as revealed by her social media. We’ve tried to talk to the dentist; she picked up the phone, but was silent.

Associate Judge’s husband received aid

The lack of control makes it so even the husband of a judge will receive the R$ 600 (despite their family income adding up to more than the cap established by the aid itself). A partner in a license plate factory accredited by Detran in Encantado and married to a magistrate who works in the Metropolitan Region, Pedro Giordani admits he has a motorcycle, a beach house and a boat. And that he signed up for receiving aid. However, he assures he will not withdraw the money.

“I’m going to give it back. It’s just that the factory’s been stopped for 15 days. But who told you about my property? Well, I guess that’s not important right now. This business is over, I’m going to give it back.”

“I fit the criteria”, says architect

A known architect from Veranópolis, Gerson Luiz Capponi, received R$ 600 in emergency aid in May. He is responsible for designing large residential buildings in that town, drives a sports car and lives in his own apartment.  Upon being interrogated by the media, he assures he’s got a right to the benefits.

“You’ve just got to read the rules. I’ve got this apartment where I live in, but the family income must be R$ 3,135 per month, tops. Since I live alone, I fit the criteria”, he interprets.

Upon being asked whether his yearly income is under R$ 28,000, as laid out by the rules, Capponi said he was busy and hung up the phone.

Another Veranópolis resident also interpreted that he could receive benefits. Former councillor Rudimar Caglioni, real estate business partner and agent, received R$ 1,200 in emergency aid in April and May. He believed that realtors would be entitled to it, since they would spend several months without selling real estate. He has announced, via Facebook, that he has returned the money.

“In my homeland, everybody’s gotten it:  dentists, doctors, businesspeople. We thought it was a leg up for businesses. There was no bad faith on my part, so much so that I’ve already returned the R$ 1,200 and posted about it on Facebook.”

The news crew asked Caglioni if he hadn’t suspected that the benefits were for the needy and if he hadn’t noticed the R$ 3,000 cap on family income. The real estate agent assures us that he had not; he simply had seen a loophole for attaining some financial relief during the pandemic. He understood that the aid could be not just for people, but also for businesses.

Some people, either after being admonished or due to shame, have given up on the benefits. In Veranópolis, the funds for paid emergency aid, which were R$ 1,5 million in April, dropped to R$ 237,000 in May.

Town hall civil servant returned money

In Nova Pádua, town hall civil servant Keyla Marin had also received R$ 1,200 in government aid in April and May, but returned it all last week, after much criticism on social media. She assures that she did not know she was forbidden from using the benefits on account of being a town hall worker. Public officials from any milieu may not be considered for emergency aid, stresses Rio Grande do Sul Comptroller General’s Office (CGU, in Portuguese) superintendent Carlos Alberto Rambo. This is written in Decree 10.316/2020, which explains as such: “aid is vetted to a public official, including those occupying a temporary position or function or in the position of a temporary civil servant which is freely appointed or dismissed through election.”

Keyla says she thought about securing some money due to occupying a temporary civil servant position and being liable to losing her job during the election year. “Afterwards, I saw that there were people who needed it more and gave it back. The weight on my conscience was stronger than any judgement.”

Regarding small business owners, the CGU stresses that only those with a very low income are targeted by government aid.

“The spirit of the benefits is to help those who really need it and can’t sustain themselves. It’s not for someone with a consistent income of over R$ 28,000 per year”, Rambo emphasizes.

In São Marcos, also in the Serra region, it was mayor Evandro Kuwer (MDB)’s daughters who, after receiving R$ 600 each in emergency aid, decided to return the benefits. The mayor told reporter Lizie Antonello, from the Pioneiro newspaper, that both of them (Karen and Kátia) are unemployed and their husbands make little money. Thus, as Kuwer understands it, they fit the program’s criteria.

Fraude, aliás, é outra ponta do novelo de irregularidades no auxílio emergencial. Começam a proliferar nas delegacias policiais queixas de que estelionatários tiram o benefício em nome de cidadãos que sequer sabem que isso aconteceu. Reportagem de GaúchaZH mostrou que pelo menos cem casos desse tipo ocorreram no Vale do Sinos desde maio.

O superintendente da Polícia Federal no Rio Grande do Sul, delegado José Dornelles, promete agir contra fraudadores, usando para isso de cruzamento de dados e ferramentas cibernéticas.

Fraud is, in fact, the other end of the yarn of irregularities in emergency aid. Complaints are proliferating in police stations about fraudsters getting aid in the name of citizens who are not even aware it happened. A GaúchaZH news report has shown that at least a hundred cases like this have happened in the Vale do Sinos region since May.

Rio Grande do Sul Federal Police superintendent José Dornelles promises to take action against fraudsters, using data cross-checking and cybernetic tools to do so.

“Generally speaking, the crimes being done are computer device invasion, theft by means of fraud, unauthorized alteration of an information system, major larceny and insertion of false data into an information system, in accordance with each case’s specifications”, Dornelles summarizes.

How to inform the authorities

The proper channel for informing authorities about fraud is the Fala.Br system, available through this link or through the numbers 121 or 0800-707-2003.

Criteria for receiving emergency aid

  • Being over 18 years old; exceptions made in the case of teenage mothers
  • Not having active formal employment
  • Not receiving benefits paid by social security, such as retirement pay, pensions or Continuing Benefit Conveyance (BPC, in Portuguese)
  • Not being a beneficiary of unemployment insurance, insurance closures or federal coondiitional cash tranfer, with the excepption of Bolsa Família
  • Belonging to a family with a monthly income per person of up to half a minimum wage (R$ 522.50) or with a total monthly income of up to three minimum wages (R$ 3,135)
  • Not having received, in 2018, taxable income over R$ 28,559.70, i.e. not having had to file an income tax return in 2019
  • Being a small business owner, an individual contributor to the General Social Welfare Policy or an informal worker, even if unemployed

What the Ministry of Citizenship says

The Ministry of Citizenship, responsible for managing emergency aid, claims to work around the clock towards the evolution of the greatest benefit ever created, on a national level, in order to aid the most vulnerable among the population. The resources allocated to this act have surpassed R$ 150 billion. It’s far from an easy task says minister Onyx Lorenzoni, due to the meager speed available for building, installing and revising constantly each working process.

Emergency aid uses a governance model which creates control and oversight partnerships with the Comptroller General’s Office (CGU) and the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU). This creates audit trails which are used to identify, enact recovery efforts and proovide feedback in oorder to improve analysis for each bundle of requests for emergency aid. The information fed into the website and the emergency aid app are cross-checked with several official data banks for documentation and economic and social situations. Besides answering for their crimes, those who defy the law are subject to reimbursement of received amounts.

RBS TV’s 11-day censorship

For 11 days, RBS TV was prohibited from publishing a news story about the emergency aid withdrawn by tradesperson Ana Paula Pagnussatti Brocco, from Espumoso. She took to the courts and managed to enact, on two occasions, preventive censorship regarding news stories about whether she fulfills the criteria for receiving benefits.

Judge Daniel da Silva Luz, from the district of Espumoso, granted an injunction that prevented her name and image to be “published” and “disclosed” in news stories. A fine of R$ 50,000 was set for disclosure. RBS TV appealed the injunction, putting forth the argument that the Brazilian Constitution prohibits preventive censorship. The censorious injunction was maintained by Associate Judge Maria Isabel de Azevedo Souza, from the 19th Civil Chamber of the Court. The censorship was overturned, on the 26th, under decree from AJ Maria Isabel herself, who reconsidered her initial decision. The magistrate considered that there was no “exceptional situation” that would justify preventive intervention towards the freedom of the press.

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One must praise the press’ efforts towards researching and pinpointing cases of fraud and diversion of public resources that have been committed, especially when it affects the neediest among the population. Investigative journalism has shown itself to be a collaborative element regarding national transformation, shedding light on issues that must be better examined by all, many times motivated by demands borne out of society itself.

The series of new stories published by Zero Hora regarding fraud in emergency aid given by the federal government in order to minimize the critical economic circumstances many Brazilians see themselves in due to the pandemic is one example of journalism’s role in the purification of society. Besides demonstrating that civil vigilance does exist, the news story serves as an information provider so the authorities can begin to act.

No âmbito da Polícia Federal, em se tratando de desvio de recursos públicos da União, as publicações do Jornal Zero Hora funcionaram como “notícia-crime” para estabelecimento de procedimentos investigatórios. Os fatos noticiados agora passam a ser analisados sob a ótica policial, com a busca da materialidade necessária para o prosseguimento da persecução penal, observadas as normas legais e o princípio da ampla defesa.

Caso as investigações resultem em ação penal, e, ao final do processo, haja condenação, o ciclo resultará completo, iniciado pela voz da sociedade através da imprensa, conduzido pelos atores do sistema jurídico e com a aplicação da pena pelo Estado.

José Antonio Dornelles de Oliveira, Superintendente Regional da Polícia Federal no Rio Grande do Sul

Within the Federal Police, when it comes to diversion of public resources, the articles published by Zero Hora work as something of a “crime report” for establishing investigation procedures. The facts that were reported are now analyzed under the lens of police work, which seeks a material basis for forwarding criminal prosecution, keeping in mind legal provisions and the right to a full defense.

In case the investigations result in penal action and, at the end of the process, a conviction is established, the cycle will be complete, set in motion by the voice of society through the press, conducted by the agents of the legal system and ending in the application of a punishment by the State.

José Antonio Dornelles de Oliveira, Regional Superintendent from the Rio Grande do Sul Federal Police Department.

Emily Anne Epstein: If we follow our values and accept responsibility, we can change laws and we can save lives

This past year our newsroom, and every newsroom, has undergone massive change. Our world is different and therefore, so is our work.

More than one time I’ve woken up (or gone to sleep) with news that has crushed me. Videos of police brutality that have made me sick. Death tolls in my country that I once thought could only be caused by war. And now there are skies that are literally on fire, and I’m the one that has to lead the way through this.

At first, my addresses to the newsroom sounded like Aaron Sorkin monologues. I was bold. I pointed out how we were witnesses to history, that we were “writing the first rough draft.” I talked about what an honour it was to help people understand what was happening, how we could help our readers make sense of the world when so much information can often leave people feeling confused. We had an incredible opportunity to shape our readers’ hearts and thoughts and create space for empathy. We could be that connective tissue between communities, cities, and spheres of thinking.

I still believe these things; there’s no way to last thirteen years in journalism if you don’t. But now my message has shifted; I am much more vulnerable with my newsroom. We have to do this work because we have to do this work. We are journalists. This is not just a paycheck or a career. This is our calling. This is our responsibility. This is our time.

We are the people born into this world with an insatiable sense of curiosity. We always want to know more, and we find both friends and strangers positively fascinating. We don’t get bored. We don’t let things just go. We need to know; it is a compulsion.

What does society do with people like that? Why did we evolve to be this way? We are this way because we are needed.

And if we fulfill this promise, if we follow our values and accept this responsibility, we can change laws. We can save lives. And we can change minds — with a couple of sharp questions and just the right words.

Emily Anne Epstein, Editor-in-chief, Narcity Media.

 

David Walmsley: What does journalism mean to you? We asked newsrooms to give space to you, our audience, to tell us.

On September 28 we celebrate the third annual World News Day. Across six continents, more than 150 newsrooms are marking the day.

What does journalism mean to you in 2020? We have asked the newsrooms to give some space to you, our audience, to tell us.

Maybe you met a journalist for the first time. And for the first time you were believed.

Perhaps you have never met a journalist but you worry about their safety amid the social unrest in so many parts of the world. Most likely, you don’t think twice about how the news gets out.

When The Canadian Journalism Foundation launched WorldNewsDay.org three years ago, it was clear that amid full-scale assaults on the integrity of journalism, there were two important groups of voices who best tell the story of journalism – the journalists, and more importantly, our audiences.

Since the industry’s earliest days, most of us have been satisfied as reporters, photographers and editors to be in the background. We were trained from day one that journalists are not the story. But in recent years, powerful forces have pushed our profession into the headlines.

Routine verbal attacks have grown into targeted physical attacks against journalists going about their daily jobs. Camera operators, reporters and photographers may choose to go into dangerous situations, even riots, to tell their communities what is going on, but it is only in the last years that wearing the PRESS identifier turns the journalist into a target.

World News Day is not intended as an industry celebration. It is instead a day to pause and give the people we have turned into stories a platform to explain how journalism made a difference in their lives.

On the evening of Sept 28, we have a two-hour show presented by CNN’s Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter. We will revisit some of the most important moments of this incredible year for news.

Among the guests is Mary Cain, at one point an indoor world record holder and the World Junior track champion in the 3000m. She explains how journalism helped her and others to break free from a toxic training environment where her body weight target was unreasonably low.

You will hear from John Sanders, a protester who spoke to the press after he was partially blinded by police while protesting the death of George Floyd.

And 16-year-old Autumn Peltier, whose goal may be simple but remains still out of reach – clean water for all. These are the voices that journalism can amplify, and connect to policy makers as part of wider conversations. Journalism is about improving the world and ensuring we talk about the need for better climate coverage, social justice and information that can save lives.

Dr Anthony Fauci of the Center for Disease Control in the US who talks often about the importance of following facts and scientific evidence will join us too.

And Maria Ressa, the tenacious co-founder and executive editor of the Filipino news site, Rappler, will convey her experience as she faces years of possible imprisonment. Her crime in Manila? Journalism.

Beyond the show, we have newsrooms across Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America and Oceania spending time with their audiences to discuss the importance of journalism, and perhaps above all simply the desire to be able to access accurate information.

Faith in journalism is only earned through focused consistent work done by individuals who live in the community. Wherever you are, they need your support.

And for those communities who now live in a news desert, where there is no longer a local paper covering the council meetings and school boards, I encourage you to consider more deeply what has been lost and what can be done to bring the journalism back to life one community at a time. The best journalists listen. The strongest communities tell their stories, if not for themselves, for their children.

As journalism goes, so goes democracy.

By David Walmsley
Creator, World News Day and past chair, The Canadian Journalism Foundation.
Editor-in-Chief, The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada.

 

Warren Fernandez: Why real news matters amid the twin pandemics of Covid-19 and fake news

Over 150 newsrooms from around the world will come together today to mark World News Day, including journalists from Toronto to Taipei, Spain to Singapore.

This, however, is not an occasion for journalists to pat ourselves on the back for the work we do. Rather, the focus is on how journalists go about reporting on issues that matter to our audiences.

In the face of the Covid-19 outbreak, audiences have been turning to professional journalists like never before.

They want answers on how to stay safe, as well as how to safeguard their jobs. They need to know the facts. They need help separating fact from fiction, amid the pandemic of fake news that has also gone viral. They are looking to people they can trust to help them join the dots, to make sense of these bewildering times.

At a time when so much has been turned on its head, this much has become clear: Real news matters. The truth matters. Objectivity matters. Balance and fairness matter.

In short, quality journalism matters.

These are hallmarks of professional newsrooms. These newsrooms strive to tell the stories that matter to the communities they serve.

Consider these examples. In March, the Brazilian media group 100 Fronteiras told the story of the trauma caused by the sudden closing of the International Friendship Bridge between the towns of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay and Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil.

“Many families had to split up. People who live in Foz, but have relatives on the other side of the bridge and now only see themselves through the cell phone screen.

“Never before in the history of the world has a hug been so desired. Yes, people really only value it after they can’t. Now we are feeling it in our skin and it hurts.”

On the other side of the earth, a similar story of separation and loss was playing out. In my hometown, Singapore, the land-bridge popularly called the Causeway that many use to cross into Johor Bahru in Malaysia, also had to be shut down to stem the spread of the virus. Families, workers, businesses and communities, that had been intertwined for decades, were suddenly left bereft of each another. Their stories were told in the pages of The Straits Times.

In the face of a global pandemic, our common humanity also rang out in stories of courage and hope which many newsrooms recounted. In a special report in February, titled ‘On the frontlines of the coronavirus’, we profiled the doctors, nurses and officers in Singapore who were fighting the virus. Likewise, The Canadian Press traced a patient’s harrowing journey from emergency room to Intensive Care Unit and finally to recovery and rehabilitation, highlighting the many people who pitched in to save one man’s life in a feature in April.

Across the planet, newsrooms have been bringing these stories to our audiences, not only to inform and educate, but also to inspire and uplift communities.

In the process, Covid-19 has reminded us of many things we had taken for granted.  It has made plain the importance of good governance, the value of trust in leaders and institutions, and the solace and strength that families and communities provide. It has also highlighted the critical role that a credible and reliable media plays in the health and well-being of our societies.

Ironically, however, the pandemic has also posed an existential threat to many newsrooms. While audiences have surged, revenues and resources have plunged, making it harder for journalists to keep doing their jobs.

World News Day is an opportunity for us to ponder why this matters.

Real News matters if we are to make sense of the bewildering developments around us. Credible journalism is critical if we are to have informed debates about where we might be headed in a post-pandemic world.  Newsrooms that are engaged with their readers can help rally communities in a time of wrenching change.

Indeed, as the French author Albert Camus mused in his novel, The Plague, which tells the story of how the inhabitants of a town came to terms with a deadly outbreak: “The strongest desire was, and would be, to behave as if nothing had changed…but, one can’t forget everything, however great one’s wish to do so; the plague was bound to leave traces, anyhow, in people’s hearts.”

Wittingly or otherwise, the “traces in people’s hearts” that are left post Covid-19 will have to be dealt with, when the pandemic now still raging around the world, eventually, passes.

Societies that remain well served by good news organisations will be better placed to do so.

Professional journalists and newsrooms will be vital in helping communities survey the ravaged landscape around them. They will also be critical for the honest conversations that will be needed to figure out the way forward.

That, put simply, is why the success and sustainability of the media matters – now more so than ever– to us all.

Warren Fernandez is the Editor-in-Chief of The Straits Times, Singapore’s leading English language news organization.

This Singaporean, 23, aims to get viewers saying ‘WTS’ with videos exploring social issues

Image from Zhong Han.

This story first appeared in Mothership on July 25, 2020.

Lee Zhong Han tells us how he started a community initiative from scratch, garnering tens of thousands of views online.

What comes to mind when you see the letters WTS?

For 23-year-old Lee Zhong Han, what may normally stand for a crude expression of incredulity, is actually the name of his brainchild, WTS Community, a visual storytelling initiative.

“Yes, WTS is an abbreviation for We Tell Stories,” he told Mothership.

The initiative started as a social media campaign seeking to tell stories about how everyday Singaporeans were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic but quickly evolved into a platform that also features other ground-up efforts addressing community needs.

Today, a quick look at the initiative’s Facebook page shows that the initiative’s videos have clocked up tens of thousands of views on average with WTS Community’s latest video bringing to light the struggles that local food and beverage businesses are experiencing.

Another video was devoted to the SGUnited Buka Puasa Initiative, a community effort which provides free Buka Puasa meals to underprivileged families during Ramadan.

OVERWHELMED BY STRUGGLES FACED BY COMMUNITIES

“Storytelling as a force for good”, Lee explained, is at the core of what his community initiative does.

Through WTS, we aim to bring more stories to light and increase the awareness of social issues faced in Singapore through exploring the micro and macro aspects of society.”

The project, which started in March this year, was the product of an “accumulation of experiences” from working on nonprofit and social enterprise initiatives and learning about societal and environmental issues.

The 23-year-old, who is currently studying counselling at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, recalled being overwhelmed when he first started learning about society and the environment.

“I was shocked by the vast amounts of information. There was so much I didn’t know. I was also overwhelmed by the struggles faced by several communities,“ he said.

I wanted to continue my learning journey and build a community where we learn and support one another together. To satisfy my desire to learn more about different issues in society and bring others along on this learning journey, I decided to embark on WTS Community.”

SELF-DOUBT AND THE FIRST VIDEOS

The team today is made up of a dozen youth volunteers, united in their passion for storytelling and digging deeper into the struggles facing Singaporeans.

However, Lee told us that the initial stages of the initiative were difficult; volunteers were hard to come by and organisations that they wanted to work with were quite distrustful.

“They [doubted] our intentions and professionalism. As a young person, I do sense that we need to work harder to gain the trust of our partner organisations,” he mused.

But it wasn’t just organisations that hesitated, Lee faced doubts from his friends and even his parents.

Then there was also the act of actually producing a video and uploading it for audiences to see.

“When I posted our first video on our social media platforms, my heart was palpitating,” said Lee.

I felt very nervous as if I was on stage giving a speech.”

That first video saw WTS Community hitting the streets and talking to youths about the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Actually, I did. Just a bit,” admitted one interviewee when asked about the panic-induced buying that beset some Singaporeans at the supermarkets.

The vox-pop ended with participants sending well wishes to Singaporeans and frontline workers before directing viewers to different organisations in need of volunteers.

While Lee said that he felt a sense of accomplishment and joy shortly after the video went up, self-doubt and uncertainty soon crept into his psyche.

It would be another two months before WTS Community would post a second video.

Yet soon, things began to pick up steam for Lee and his group of volunteers soon grew to include friends of friends who were interested in what WTS Community was doing.

“WE TAKE OUR WORK VERY SERIOUSLY”

The initiative’s second video was also more substantive, featuring the executive director of Zero Waste Singapore — a non-governmental organisation dedicated to helping Singapore eliminate the concept of waste, and accelerating the shift towards zero waste and the circular economy.

The video sought to encourage viewers to reduce their single-use food packaging.

Now, a better-oiled machine, Lee approaches prospective partner organisations by telling them “we might be a volunteer initiative but we take our work very seriously”.

When deciding on a new video topic, Lee’s team looks out for projects or issues that are under-reported and can offer new perspectives.

They then spend a few weeks doing research, talking to people familiar with the issues at hand, and sourcing for interview profiles.

The team, he explained, is keenly aware that viewers today have shorter attention spans.

There are many societal issues that deserve attention but are often not reaching the masses. We want to make it easy. Allow others to learn about society in an experiential and fun way. We condense what we find from research into short-form video content, designs and social media posts.”

The result is a slickly edited, snappy video delivering bite-sized information on issues targeted at young Singaporeans, before directing them towards an avenue to act on their newfound curiosity.

GETTING HELP AND FUNDING

All this would not be possible without the initial funding that Lee received from the Our Singapore Fund (OSF).

Supporting the Singapore Together movement, the fund seeks to support meaningful projects by passionate Singaporeans that build national identity and a sense of belonging or meet social and community needs.

Funding, explained Lee, took a week to get approved after he sent in a proposal to OSF’s online portal.

The partial grant helped WTS Community “get off the ground” by paying for marketing and production costs.

More than just providing financial support, the team managing OSF also gives Lee feedback on the team’s videos and offer advice on how to make the initiative sustainable in the long run.

Source: Zhong Han.

“THE TYPE OF SHIFT WE WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE”

The support provided by OSF has allowed Lee and his team to focus on delivering fresh and impactful content. Speaking about impact, Lee was reminded of a comment left by a friend on WTS Community’s social media:

I have a friend who commented on one of our social media posts about how some people need regular blood transfusions due to conditions like leukaemia. His comments were: ‘Nice that’s quite a perspective I have never come across before.’

When I saw this, I felt a sense of satisfaction as we are inching towards creating content that serves our vision.”

Ultimately, that incident offered a glimpse into what WTS Community hopes to achieve.

While Lee has grand plans to expand the initiative into a sustainable non-profit organisation, the mission — to bring change through storytelling — will remain unchanged.

It’s even exemplified in the playful pun in WTS Community’s name, said Lee:

[WTS is] typically exclaimed when the person comes across something they didn’t know before that is usually incredible or hard to believe. And yes, that’s the type of shift we want the people to have when you consume our content… in hopes that they take action and contribute to the common good.”