Ministers Moraes and Dino Aim to Control Journalism, Critic Argues

Ministers Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and Flávio Dino are reportedly seeking to re-enter the debate on the requirement of a diploma for practicing journalism. Columnist Carlos Andreazza views this as a move by the ministers to legislate and exert control over journalistic activities, rather than awaiting legislative or judicial initiatives.

Andreazza argues that by raising the issue without any legislative action or existing case, Moraes and Dino are positioning themselves as lawmakers. He questions the provocation for the STF to revisit the diploma requirement, stating that neither the legislative branch nor any specific case has prompted such a discussion. Andreazza suggests the ministers are "doubling down" after previous decisions that favored Dino, including searches and seizures against a journalist and the authorization of searches against the journalist's sources.

According to Andreazza, these actions, including the "probing for evidence" and the "breaking of source confidentiality," are being used to justify what he calls a "barbarity" and an "unconstitutional affront" by STF ministers. He believes the attempt to revive the diploma debate is a diversionary tactic, serving the ministers' "intention of exercising power and control over journalistic activity."

Ultimately, Andreazza contends that this effort grants ministers the power to arbitrarily decide who is a "serious journalist" and who is merely a "journalist under investigation." He poses the critical question: "Who decides when an investigative journalist becomes an investigated journalist? They do."

“

Fizeram pesca probatória no material do cara e quebraram o sigilo de fonte do cara, e estão agora com todo esse movimento dobrando a aposta para justificar essa barbaridade, essa afronta, que é a decisão inconstitucional de ministro do Supremo.