Apparently in Brazil, it’s not just the soccer players who are on the field. In the soccer-crazy country, reporters and photographers stand behind the goal and on the sidelines. But with thousands of reporters in South Africa to cover the World Cup, it’s not possible to grant that kind of access.
Understandable, but that doesn’t meant Brazilian reporters aren’t complaining. From the New York Times:
For some matches, mostly not involving Brazil, it is even worse for the country’s febrile radio and television commentators: seating for members of the news media is limited, so they must do their jobs not in the stadiums but while watching a television screen at the International Broadcast Center.
“This is very cold,” said Reinaldo Costa, a Brazilian radio commentator who has been in the business for 41 of his 58 years. “The main thing is the emotion on the pitch. When you don’t have this, you can’t tell it to your listener. In the previous days, it was more romantic, like you were participating in the history of the game.”
The Brazilian coach, Dunga, is no help to members of his country’s fourth estate:
He’s limiting the amount of access for the press has to his team, saying that the players need to just concentrate on the game and get their full rest.
This is not going over well with radio stations that have hours of time to fill each day during the tournament. Globo, the Brazilian television rights holder, briefly quit calling Dunga by name after he had a spat with one of its journalists and began referring to him only as Brazil’s coach, Reuters reported last week.
But even worse than not granting journalists access? Not bringing home the World Cup.
Brazil will be playing the Netherlands today in the quarterfinals.
Here’s a link to Marketplace’s coverage of the 2010 World Cup, vuvuzelas included.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
