Lúcio Flávio Pinto

Lúcio Flávio Pinto (born c. 1950)[1] is an independent journalist who lives in Belém, Brazil. Formerly an employee of O Liberal, Brazil's largest media company, he later became the publisher and editor of the independent newsletter Jornal Pessoal. In more than 42 years of reporting, Pinto has reported on a number of sensitive or dangerous topics, including drug trafficking, deforestation by ranchers and loggers, and military, political, and corporate corruption.[2][1] His reporting has led him to be the target of an assault, death threats, and 33 lawsuits.[1]

In 2005, he won an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based NGO.[2] In 2008, the Los Angeles Times described him as having the reputation of "an authoritative, stubbornly independent journalist who doesn't shrink from confronting some of Brazil's most potent interests".[1]

Career

Pinto was raised in a middle-class family in Santarém, Pará, Brazil.[1] He began reporting when he was 16.[3]

He spent the first half of his journalism career with the media company O Liberal, whose founder, Romulo Maiorana, was one of his best friends.[1] Following Maiorana's death, however, Pinto left the paper in 1987 after it refused to publish a piece in which he stated that two businessmen were implicated in the assassination of former congressman Paulo Fonteles.[1] He subsequently faced a number of lawsuits initiated by the company.[1] In 2005, he published a story about O Liberal's various holdings, and was assaulted two days later in a restaurant by Maiorana's son, Ronaldo Maiorana, and two bodyguards. Maiorana punched Pinto, and the three men kicked him when he fell to the ground, as Maiorana shouted "If I don't kill you now, I'll kill you later!"[1] The incident was caught on videotape.[4] When managers from O Liberal were later put on trial for tax evasion, Pinto was given an injunction by a federal court against covering the case; Reporters Without Borders described it as an example of "abusive judicial procedures to censor journalists".[5]

After leaving O Liberal, Pinto founded the bimonthly, 12-page independent magazine Jornal Pessoal. Published in a newsletter format with a subscription of 2,000, the magazine emulates I. F. Stone's Weekly, the 1960s self-published newsletter by US journalist I. F. Stone.[6] Pinto refuses to accept advertising for the magazine, stating that it would compromise the magazine's independence.[1]

Pinto also worked from 1974 to 1989 for O Estado de Sao Paulo.[3]

Personal life

Pinto is separated from his wife. He has four children. In 2008, the Los Angeles Times described him as living alone in "monastic devotion to his solitary labors".[1]

Awards and recognition

The Italian Archivio Disarmo awarded Pinto its International Golden Dove for Peace Award in 1997.[3]

In 2005, Pinto won an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based NGO.[2] Because of the number of lawsuits pending against him, he declined to travel to New York City to receive the award in person, fearing a local judge would take the opportunity to jail him for missing a court date.[1] His daughter received the award on his behalf.[4]

Books

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Reed Johnson (18 May 2008). "On the beat in the Amazon". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "IPFA 2005 - Lucio Flavio Pinto". Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Mario Osava (26 June 2007). "Brazil: Journalist wages solitary battle against corruption". Inter Press Service  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 Michael Astor (16 October 2012). "Crusading Brazilian journalist defends Amazon _ and himself". Associated Press  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Local courts allow multiple lawsuits to be used to censor journalists". Reporters Without Borders. 25 February 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  6. ↑ David Ransom (1 December 1996). "Lucio Flavio Pinto: a journalist in Amazonia ...". New Internationalist.  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 16 October 2012.

External links

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