Bolsonaro under fire for smearing reporter who covered scandal involving his son [View all]

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Bolsonaro under fire for smearing reporter who covered scandal involving his son

‘Bolsonaro is Fake News’ became a top hashtag in Brazil after president shared ‘false information’ to attack a journalist

Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Mon 11 Mar 2019 20.10 GMT

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has provoked a storm of protest after sharing fake news to attack a journalist who has covered a scandal involving a former aide of his son Flávio, a senator who is also under investigation for money laundering.

Leading newspapers, the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association and the Brazilian Bar Association, criticised the far-right president for sharing a “misrepresentation” and “false information”.

Bolsonaro launched his attack on Sunday night in a tweet with short audio excerpts of a conversation between Constança Rezende, a reporter at the Estado de S Paulo newspaper, and an unnamed man. The president accused her of seeking his impeachment and wanting to “ruin” the life of his son Flávio.

But in the excerpts Bolsonaro shared, Rezende did no such thing. Speaking in halting English, she can be heard saying the case against the president’s son was “ruining” Bolsonaro – who campaigned on an anti-graft, tough-on-crime platform. Rezende also says the case could lead to the president’s impeachment and expressed her fear that investigations may not advance.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/bolsonaro-brazil-fake-news-journalist-media-attack