The media evolves, but still slowly with regard to the sustainability agenda

At the end of the debate “CSR in the media: agenda and management”, the feeling was that the role of the media as drivers of new sustainability paradigms is still an unresolved issue. According to Ricardo Young, president of Instituto Ethos, the media has a key role in fostering sustainable behavior of companies and the society as a whole. “But the debate is still shy”, he says. He stresses the relevance of journalists as agents of change and points out that there are professionals who have been paving the way for the new agendas for many years, “but only now get the necessary space to publish.”

The fact that the discussion involved executives of the Globo Network and the groups Folha, Estado, and Abril shows that there is an evolution in place. “The presence of executives of the mainstream press already means an advance in the debate”, commented Paulo Itacarambi, executive director of Instituto Ethos. He stressed the importance of the mainstream press be willing to discuss the introduction of the CSR and sustainability concepts in the management of the media companies. “The discussion showed that these concepts are still not totally understood by the executives of these companies, but having attended the debate already means a lot in the process, once it’s hard to see the press submit to a public debate on its own product”, he said.

Grupo Estado has already decided to disclose to the society what it has been doing to incorporate the CSR concepts in the internal company management by publishing social reports. “We are already in our second corporate responsibility report. We’ve shown what’s been already done and we’ve made a ‘to do’ list”, said Ricardo Gandour, director of content of newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo,.

Antonio Manuel Teixeira Mendes, director superintendent of Grupo Folha, cited some CSR practices adopted by the group, such as investments in training, profit sharing plan and the installation of an effluent treatment station in the printing plant located in Tamboré, in the Greater São Paulo. He admits, however, that a lot will have to be done as far as management is concerned, but the coverage of CSR and sustainability has improved considerably. “Information is our product and we have addressed the CSR issue more deeply and extensively”, said Mendes. “The press release journalism leads nowhere. We practice critical journalism, showing all sides of the news and helping change behaviors.”

Amélia González, editor of Razão Social, a supplement of the newspaper O Globo, was in the audience and enjoyed the debate. She thinks the supplement she edits shows that it is possible to have a good agenda on the theme when the governance of large companies buy into the CSR idea. “There is still prejudice of the society and of companies against CSR coverage. Debates like this one helps to minimize it”, she said.