Editorial, by Stone Korshak
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After the image as a place to do business has collapsed like a house of cards, and the post-Olympic tourism ball has been dropped due to inflated costs and high crime, it is hard to find people who care about Brazil one way or another.
It sounds harsh, but the reality is the pool of people concerned with Brazil has gotten a lot smaller. The economic crisis, the political shenanigans, and the increase in crime has brought foreign interest in the South American giant to,… what it was 15-20 years ago.
From a news standpoint, the crime and corruption is still sensational, even the CBS weekly news program 60 Minutes did a piece on Lava Jato (Car Wash). The Olympics are long over though, and so the inherent focus of the masses has moved on, like memories of glory days.
As a local, foreign-community news publisher, this is of course a concern, as we’re faced to ask ourselves, who cares about Brazil now?
The answer lies in the core of our audience, those expatriates that live here in Rio and Brazil. The characters that are staying through thick and thin, with samba in their veins and the promise of tomorrow’s Brazil in our hearts.
I maintain that 95 percent of the people who have left Brazil in the last few years all long to return. To be able to stay here is a privilege, we are the lucky ones. Nowhere combines culture and natural beauty like the Cidade Maravilhosa.
So our news reporting will focus more on those that are here, and more on the community of foreigners, from long-term expats, to multinationals and diplomatic corps on 2-3 year rotations, as well as the six-month adventurer and the ten-day tourist.
We’ll pay special attention to those foreigners making things happen here, in business, in the arts, and especially social projects. As a community we need to support each other and celebrate the efforts made.
At the same time, we’ll ask more of our audience to help us on our mission. Online advertising revenue is down industry-wide, so we’ll put more focus on our Premium Access services, and hope our regular readers see the value exchange.
One way or the other, we’re committed to reporting on what is happening here in Brazil. We care about the Brazilians, we care about the future of this country, and we care especially about the foreigners that call Brazil home.
