Veja (magazine)

History and profile

Veja was first published on 11 September 1968, and was subject to censorship by the Brazilian military dictatorship from 1969 to 1976. In 1974 the magazine boosted the sales and the number of subscribers began to increase. Veja is known for its attacks on the worldwide left-wing; for instance, when Cuban ruler Fidel Castro left power, the magazine's front cover read "It was about time!" The magazine supports free market economy, more toughness on crime and the promotion of individual liberty. Well-known contributors to the magazine include Reinaldo Azevedo, Stephen Kanitz and Lya Luft.

During its early days, Veja was known for publishing hoaxes as facts. In 1975 it declared that the Loch Ness Monster was real before ultimately recognizing the news were fake. In 1983, it re-published an April Fools' Day prank from the British magazine New Science as real. According to Veja, scientists were able to fuse the molecules of a cow and a tomato in order to produce tomato-flavored meat. In 1989, it published a controversial piece about singer Cazuza, who was terminally ill from AIDS. It was considered of bad taste and proclaimed that the singer's legacy would not last. The same year, the magazine published a cover praising then presidential hopeful Fernando Collor de Mello later impeached for corruption.

On 2005, as part of its growing right-wing agenda, Veja defended the rejection of the prohibition of firearms in that year's referendum. According to Folha de S. Paulo columnist Barbara Gancia, Veja tried to mislead its readers presenting the referendum as a proposition of the ruling Workers' Party (PT) and its owners had a conflict of interest in campaigning against banning firearms; Veja publishing company Editora Abril was a business partner of the Birmann family, owner of the Brazilian Cartridge Company. During the same year it was responsible for several news stories about the Mensalão scandal.

Veja had a circulation of 1,086,200 copies in 2010.

Controversies

The magazine is often the target of criticism for its bias, including from journalists Luís Nassif in the special section of his blog and Mino Carta himself in various editions of his magazine Carta Capital. Both have filed lawsuits against the magazine and its columnists (in particular Diogo Mainardi) in relation to the accusations made by both parties.

In its 25 May 2007 issue, Veja ran a story on then-Senate president, Renan Calheiros, accusing him of accepting funds from a lobbyist to pay for the child support of a daughter from an extramarital affair with journalist Monica Veloso. During a speech in his defense given in the Senate floor, Calheiros accused Grupo Abril, Veja parent company, of having violated Brazilian corporate law in relation to its sale of 30% of the capital from its publishing arm to South African media group Naspers. Abril responded to Calheiros in a press release in which they denied all charges.

In August 2010, the Superior Electoral Court punished Veja for pro-José Serra bias during its coverage of the 2010 presidential election. The magazine published a claim made by Serra's vice-presidential candidate Índio da Costa that the Workers' Party (PT) had ties with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia. Veja was forced to publish a rebuttal note from PT. Prior to the second round of the 2014 presidential election, Veja anticipated its weekly edition to publish a story claiming that both President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were aware of a misappropriation scheme inside the state oil company Petrobras. The magazine headquarters was attacked by pro-PT protestors. Once again Veja was forced by the Supreme Electoral Court to publish a rebuttal from PT.

In July 2015 the magazine published a story claiming that federal contractor Léo Pinheiro would offer a plea bargaining claiming that Lula was aware and benefited from the aforementioned corruption case. However, Pinheiro published an article claiming that the statements attributed to him were fake. As such, Lula decided to sue Veja for moral damages. On the same issue, the magazine accused former soccer player and Senator Romário of having a bank account in the tax haven country of Switzerland. After being sought by the Senator, Banca della Svizzera Italiana confirmed that the documents published by Veja were fake. BSI announced that it requested an investigation of the case by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland. According to columnist Ricardo Noblat, Veja actions might have been orchestrated by the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes, once Romário is a strong contester in the upcoming municipal election.

Recent circulation history

References

References

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