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60-707: The Joelma Building fire happened less than two years after another deadly fire in downtown São Paulo, that of the Andraus Building . As of 2021, the Joelma fire remains the second-worst skyscraper fire ever in terms of the death toll, after the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001 . While the Joelma Building is a reinforced fire-resistant concrete hull construction, its interior

120-483: A military junta ; the military role would be only temporary—or so at least it was thought. After the financial and business hardships were left behind, the new management started to concentrate on industrial modernization and in creating a distribution network that would facilitate the circulation leaps that would follow. The company bought new printing presses and equipment in the United States. In 1968, Folha became

180-646: A climax with the editorial "Political Prisoners?", published in 1972, in which the newspaper challenged the notion that there were people jailed for their political ideas in Brazil. The editorial was also a response to rival "O Estado", for its defense of a special jail regime for political prisoners. The editorial claimed: "It is well known that those criminals, whom the daily [Estado] wrongly qualifies as political prisoners, are just bank robbers, kidnappers, thieves, arsonists and murderers, acting sometimes with more exquisite perversity than those other, lowly common criminals, that

240-509: A fire safety specialist to inspect both the Joelma and Andraus buildings. He found that the renovated Joelma exceeded current fire safety regulations, many of which were enacted exactly because of the two fires. Joelma even had tactile floors for blind people in the escape routes; this is not mandatory. Andraus failed the same inspection. 23°32′58″S 46°38′26″W  /  23.54944°S 46.64056°W  / -23.54944; -46.64056 Andraus Building The Andraus Building

300-415: A guide to the rules and commitments Folha works under. It was the first publication of its kind to be made available to the general public. The guidelines stipulate that Folha's journalism should be descriptive and accurate, but that themes that cause controversy can admit to more than one viewpoint and require a pluralistic treatment. Folha also became known for its highly diverse selection of columnists. At

360-566: A more critical stance. Frias believed in an editorial policy nonpartisan and pluralistic, able to offer the widest range of views about any subject, and he found a skilled collaborator in Cláudio Abramo, the newspaper's editorial director from 1965 to 1973, followed by Ruy Lopes (1972–73) and Boris Casoy (1974-1976). Abramo took over once again in 1976/77, but then a crisis caused by an attempted military coup against President Ernesto Geisel led Frias to bring back Casoy. Abramo reformulated

420-429: A newsroom manual and editorial policy guidelines. In 1949, Ramos started a third newspaper, Folha da Tarde , and sponsored dozens of civic campaigns against corruption and organized crime, for the defense of water sources, infrastructure improvements, city works, and plenty more. However organized as an executive, Ramos lacked business acumen and was not flexible enough to negotiate credit lines and balance budgets. In

480-499: A newsroom staffed by journalists hostile to Vargas. Hermínio Saccheta, a Trotskyist who was briefly a political prisoner under Estado Novo, became an executive news editor as soon as he left jail. The dictatorial administration put political pressure onto news organs, and in São Paulo it took as its main target the daily O Estado de S. Paulo , a major supporter for the 1932 revolution. The newspaper's director, Júlio de Mesquita Filho ,

540-416: A positioning closer to the themes that affected the daily life of the paulistanos (São Paulo city dwellers), particularly the working classes. The paper was competing against O Estado de S. Paulo the leading newspaper in the city, which represented rural moneyed interests and took on a conservative, traditional and rigid posture; Folha was always more responsive to societal needs. Business flourished, and

600-436: A victorious revolution, newspapers that opposed him were attacked by Aliança Liberal supporters. Folha's premises were destroyed, and Costa sold the company to Octaviano Alves de Lima, a businessman whose main activity was coffee production and trade. Alves de Lima's initial goal, when he took over the newspapers in 1931, was defending the "agricultural interests", meaning rural landowners. But important events elsewhere became

660-458: Is a well-known building in the República area of downtown São Paulo , Brazil , on the corner of Avenida São João and Pedro Américo Street. It is 115 metres tall and has 32 floors, and its construction ended in 1962. On 24 February 1972, the building suffered a great fire which caused the deaths of 16 persons trapped inside the building. 330 others were also injured. The building was renovated after

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720-525: Is known as the Pirani Building , after a former department store that used to occupy the lower floors before the fire. Although the building is most often associated with the fatal fire, it nevertheless has significant architectural value, being one of the best-known skyscrapers of São Paulo, of considerable prominence in the skyline with its unmistakable geometric shape. Among the fatalities were two executives at Henkel: Paul Jürgen Pondorf, President of

780-414: Is regarded as a newspaper of record in Brazil. Among daily newspapers, Folha has also the news website with the largest number of visitors. Folha was founded on 19 February 1921, by a group of journalists led by Olival Costa and Pedro Cunha, under the name Folha da Noite . It was an evening newspaper, with a project that privileged shorter, clearer articles, focusing more on news than on opinion, and

840-530: Is the centerpiece for Grupo Folha , a conglomerate that also controls UOL (Universo Online), the leading Internet portal in Brazil; polling institute Datafolha ; publishing house Publifolha ; book imprint Três Estrelas ; printing company Plural ; and, in a joint-venture with the Globo group, the business daily Valor , among other enterprises. It has gone through several phases and has targeted different audiences, such as urban middle classes, rural landowners, and

900-550: The Mensalão scandal (2005), Folha kept revealing abuses and misrule. In 1986, Folha became the newspaper with the largest circulation among big Brazilian dailies, and it still leads today. In 1995, one year after reaching the landmark of one million copies for its Sunday edition, the company put into operation its new printing center, seen as the most technologically advanced in Latin-America. The company's circulation and sales record

960-634: The University of São Paulo . In his letter, Comparato wrote that "the editorialist and the executive editor that approved the text should be sentenced to public penance, getting down on their knees on a public square to beg forgiveness to the Brazilian public." The newspaper answered by defining the professors' indignation as "cynical and untrue", and claiming that both of them were well-respected figures and did not express similar disdain regarding left-wing dictatorships such as Cuba's. "Editorial note: Folha respects

1020-549: The TV business and the partners sold their TV companies in 1969. The early 1970s were a turbulent period for Folha. Accused by guerrilla groups of lending vehicles to the military regime repressive apparatus, Folha became a target for guerrilla action. Guerrilla groups intercepted and burned three of Folha's delivery vans, two in September and one in October 1971, and made death threats against

1080-491: The building and search for survivors. At the time, the fire had been the greatest death toll in any such disaster in a high-rise building. Death toll estimates range from 179 to 189. The Joelma Building remained closed for four years for reconstruction. Once reconstructed, it was renamed Praça da Bandeira ("Flag Square," the name of a former square facing the building). The fire became a landmark case that led to changes in fire safety regulations not only in Brazil, but all over

1140-460: The civil society, but political independence has always been one of its editorial cornerstones. Ever since 1986, Folha has had the biggest circulation among the largest Brazilian newspapers – according to data by IVC (Instituto Verificador de Circulação), in January 2010, circulation was 279,000 copies on weekdays and 329,000 on Sundays. In company with O Estado de S. Paulo and O Globo , Folha

1200-424: The company to pay higher wages and grant them additional benefits. That meant additional costs for the paper. On 13 August 1962, the company was sold to entrepreneurs Octavio Frias de Oliveira and Carlos Caldeira Filho . Frias and Caldeira became, respectively, CEO and COO of the company, and started their tenure by seeking to balance the newspaper's financial position. Frias chose scientist José Reis , one of

1260-453: The company's new controlling partners, with Clóvis Queiroga and Alcides Ribeiro Meirelles -, buying the Folhas was a maneuver Getúlio Vargas engineered to get rid of the oppositionist viewpoint Rubens do Amaral, a sworn enemy of "getulismo", gave to the paper's news coverage. Queiroga, on his part, represented Count Francisco Matarazzo Júnior , barred from owning press outlets in Brazil because he

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1320-431: The company, and Ottmar Flick. The corporate offices were a total loss. Most survivors of the tragedy, unable to use the emergency stairs, chose to climb to the top floor of the building, where they remained until firefighters were able to get the fire under control. Many were later rescued via helicopter by the pilot Olendino de Souza. The fire had burned out at 11:00PM. The fire was covered live on television broadcasts and

1380-627: The conditions inside and in failed attempts to grasp unreachable fire ladders. None of these jumpers survived. Thirteen people who tried to escape using one of the elevators died of smoke inhalation and their bodies were burnt by the fire; they were never identified and are buried in anonymous graves at the Vila Alpina Cemetery. Thanks to the firefighters, by 10:30 a.m., the fire started to decrease. Four-and-a-half hours later, it had engulfed all flammables and simply burned itself out. Medical teams, fire crews and police were then able to enter

1440-524: The controlling partners decided to buy a building to serve as headquarters, a printing press and then, in 1925, to create a second newspaper, Folha da Manhã . Also in 1925, Folha da Manhã premiered Juca Pato , a cartoon character drawn by Benedito Carneiro Bastos Barreto (1896-1947), better known as Belmonte . Juca Pato was supposed to represent the Average Joe, and served as a vehicle for ironic criticism of political and economic problems, always repeating

1500-466: The decisions adopted by the preceding dictator. That period is commonly referred to as "Berenguer's dictablanda" (and the word was used later on, in different contexts, in Chile , Mexico, Uruguay and Colombia ). Folha published 21 letters about the editorial, 18 of which criticized the word choice. Among them were letters by Maria Victoria Benevides and Fábio Konder Comparato , both of them professors at

1560-412: The early 1960s, the company was suffering due to a rise in the prices of printing paper. The three newspapers were merged under a new title, Folha de S.Paulo , in 1960, but initially the morning, afternoon and evening editions were kept. However, with a worsening financial situation, only the morning edition survived. Things deteriorated further in 1961, after the news staff organized a strike that forced

1620-428: The elevators, a practice that is not recommended by fire officials. The four elevator operators were only able to make a few trips, however, before conditions within the building made it impossible to continue. Many remaining employees climbed onto balconies for air and a group of 171 individuals fled to the roof. A helicopter rescue was attempted but the heat, smoke and inadequate landing space prevented them from reaching

1680-454: The fifteenth floor. It did not reach any higher because of a lack of flammables in the stairwell, but it filled the stairwell with smoke and heat, making it impassable. Fire crews attempted to gain access using the stairwell, but could not go any higher than the eleventh floor. Initial efforts led to the successful evacuation of some 300 employees before the heat and smoke became too overwhelming. Approximately 300 more people were evacuated using

1740-555: The fire safety measures in Andraus still were substandard. Folha de S. Paulo Folha de S.Paulo (sometimes spelled Folha de São Paulo ), also known as simply Folha ( Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈfoʎɐ] , Sheet ), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name Folha da Noite and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã company. The newspaper

1800-437: The fire, and currently houses municipal and federal government offices. A possible cause of the fire would have been an electrical system overload. The fire occurred at 4:15 PM on Thursday, 24 February 1972, on the second floor and engulfed the entire building, which contained several corporate offices, among them German multinational companies Henkel and Siemens . Since restoration, the building has housed public offices and

1860-584: The first Latin-American newspaper to adopt the offset printing system. In 1971, it pioneered a new innovation: lead typesetting was replaced by cold composition . The newspaper's circulation was improving and its share in the advertising market was growing. Late in the 1960s, Frias even formed the nucleus of a national TV network, adding to TV Excelsior , which led in audience in São Paulo and he acquired in 1967, three other stations in Rio de Janeiro , Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul . However, Caldeira didn't like

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1920-487: The first large-circulation publication to do so in Brazil. In 1971, the newspaper replaced lead typesetting with the first cold composition system in Brazil. In 1983, when its first computer terminals were installed, it became the first computerized newsroom in South America. In 1984, Folha launched its first newsroom manual; those books would in time become valuable reference works for students and journalists. The manual

1980-580: The focus for news organizations: the 1932 constitutionalist revolution , when São Paulo tried to recover the power lost to Vargas; the World War II (1939 to 1945), and the Estado Novo (the Vargas dictatorial period that extended from 1937 to 1945). Alves de Lima had no news experience, and so he charged poet Guilherme de Almeida with directing the company, and chose Rubens do Amaral as newsroom head; Amaral led

2040-571: The following cities: On 17 February 2009, in an editorial criticizing the Hugo Chávez administration in Venezuela , Folha defined the earlier Brazilian military dictatorship as a " ditabranda " (meaning "soft dictatorship") as follows: "However, if the ditabrandas – such as the one Brazil had from 1964 to 1985 – started with an institutional breakdown then later on either preserved or created controlled forms of political expression and access to Justice,

2100-438: The full height of the building. An air conditioning unit on the twelfth floor, which started the fire, needed a special type of circuit breaker , which was unavailable at the time it was installed. In order to use this unit, it was installed bypassing the twelfth floor electrical control panel. The fire occurred on 1 February 1974 at 8:50 a.m., when the faulty 12th-floor air conditioning unit short circuited . The building

2160-573: The leading lights in the Brazilian Association for the Advancement of Science ( SBPC ), as newsroom head, and also hired Cláudio Abramo , the journalist credited with the successful updating of rival "O Estado de S. Paulo". Abramo would take Reis' place and form a productive working partnership with Frias that extended for more than 20 years. In 1964, Folha de S.Paulo supported the coup that overthrew President João Goulart, and his replacement by

2220-474: The media outlet in question thinks deserving of all promiscuity". The episode has also caused an internal crisis. One week later, the newspaper suspended its editorials. Later that same year, Cláudio Abramo lost his position as newsroom head, and Folha would only claim back a more avowedly political stance, instead of the uncritical "neutrality" adopted when editorials were suspended, late in 1973. More innovative than its competitor, Folha started to gain hold of

2280-418: The middle classes that were growing under the Brazilian "economic miracle", and became the newspaper of choice for young people and women. At the same time, it put effort into news areas that were not well covered in Brazil up to that time, like business news, sports, education and services. Folha supported the concept of a political opening and opened its pages to all opinion trends, and its news coverage adopted

2340-542: The new Latin American authoritarianism, pioneered by Peru's Fujimori, goes the opposite way. A leader democratically elected works from within to undermine the institutions, the checks and balances, step by step". There was an immediate and strong reaction to the use of "ditabranda", a word coined in Spain during the 1930s when General Damaso Berenguer replaced General Primo de Rivera and governed through decrees, revoking some of

2400-400: The news. From the midpoint of the Brazilian military rule, Folha kept a critical stance towards several succeeding administrations ( Ernesto Geisel , João Figueiredo , José Sarney , Fernando Collor , Itamar Franco ). Otavio Frias Filho was sued, with three of Folha's reporters, by then President Fernando Collor. Although Folha expressed support for Collor's liberalizing economic views, it

2460-415: The newspaper and led the first of many graphic reforms that would follow, in 1976; he hired columnists such as Janio de Freitas, Paulo Francis , Tarso de Castro, Glauber Rocha , Flavio Rangel, Alberto Dines , Mino Carta , Osvaldo Peralva, Luiz Alberto Bahia and Fernando Henrique Cardoso . Folha became one of the main forums for public debate in Brazil. Contrary to some expectations, this editorial posture

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2520-408: The newspaper owner. Octavio Frias de Oliveira responded with a first page editorial entitled "Banditry", and stated that he wouldn't accept the aggressions or threats. That was followed by an article on the news bulletin of ALN , a guerrilla group, in which Frias was classified as an enemy of the organization and Brazil. The bad blood between the newspaper and the left wing groups deepened and reached

2580-478: The newspaper's editorial project as part of the so-called Projeto Folha, implemented in the newsroom under the supervision of Carlos Eduardo Lins da Silva and Caio Túlio Costa . The guidelines for Projeto Folha require critical, nonpartisan and pluralistic news coverage. Those principles also guide the Newsroom Manual , first released in 1984 and updated several times later on. More than a style guide, it serves as

2640-429: The opinion of readers who disagree with the expression used to qualify Brazilian military rule in our recent editorial, and is printing some of their complaints above. As regards Professors Comparato and Benevides, well-known figures that up until today expressed no repudiation to left-wing dictatorships such as Cuba's, their 'indignation' is clearly cynical and untrue". The use of the word "ditabranda" led to Folha being

2700-535: The ploy backfired. Nabantino Ramos balanced those losses against the Count's initial financing and, some months later, declared that the company's debt to Matarazzo was fully paid and took over editorial control of the papers. Nabantino Ramos, who was an attorney, was very interested in modern managerial techniques, and during the 1940s and 1950s adopted several innovations: competitive examinations for new hires, journalism courses, performance bonuses, fact checking. He wrote

2760-445: The roof until well after the fire had burned out at 3 p.m. Even if landing space had been available, the heat and smoke made approaching the building by helicopter extremely hazardous. Approximately 80 people hid under the tiles on the roof of the building; they were found alive. Despite the best efforts of rescue personnel and witnesses, who shouted and created signs encouraging people to remain calm, 40 individuals jumped to escape

2820-512: The same time, checks and balances were instituted through internal controls: the Manual, the daily "Corrections" section adopted in 1991, a rule stating that objections to any article expressed by readers or for people mentioned in the news should be published, and, above all, the ombudsman position created in 1989; this position entails job security for its holder, whose aim is to criticize Folha and deal with complaints by readers and people mentioned in

2880-462: The scenes of people throwing themselves from the windows shocked the world. This sparked discussions about fire safety regulations for high-rise buildings, an aspect largely neglected until then. These discussions gained added impetus from an even greater tragedy, the fire at the Joelma Building , which occurred two years later in São Paulo. In 2013, the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that

2940-751: The tagline "it could have been worse". The two Folha newspapers criticized mainly the Republican parties that monopolized power back then; the newspapers campaigned for social improvement. The company was involved in founding the Democratic Party, an opposition group. However, in 1929, Olival Costa, by then sole proprietor of the Folhas , mended his fences with the São Paulo Republicans, and broke his links to opposition groups connected to Getúlio Vargas and his Aliança Liberal. In October 1930, when Vargas led

3000-534: The target of criticism on Internet discussion boards and other media vehicles, particularly those closer to left-wing thinking, such as the magazines Fórum , Caros Amigos (that ran a cover story about the case) and Carta Capital . On 7 March, there was a protest in front of Folha's headquarters, in Central São Paulo, against the use of the word "ditabranda" and to express solidarity to Maria Victoria Benevides e Fábio Konder Comparato, who did not take part in

3060-442: The world. For instance, Los Angeles enacted Regulation 10, which mandated all new buildings taller than 75 feet (23 m) to have a rooftop helipad for emergency fire evacuation, in response to the Joelma fire. Regulation 10 was rescinded in 2014 after petitioning by the builders of the 73-story Wilshire Grand Center , who designed a reinforced concrete central core into the building. In 2013, newspaper Folha de S. Paulo asked

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3120-674: Was appointed to the position. In 1995, when the Folha Printing and Technology Center started operations in Tamboré (near São Paulo), this modern printing plant built at a cost of US$ 120 million allowed Folha to circulate with most of its pages in full color. In the first half of 2012, Folha carried the following sections and supplements: Daily sections/supplements Weekly sections/supplements Monthly magazine: Serafina (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília only) In early 2012, Folha had correspondents , either full-time or research fellows, in

3180-404: Was arrested three times and forced into exile, and "Estado" was under intervention by the authorities from 1940 to 1945. With its main rival muzzled, Folha da Manhã took a leading role in voicing opposition to Vargas' dictatorship. This critical stance is one of reasons offered to explain a change in ownership during 1945. According to João Baptista Ramos, brother of João Nabantino Ramos – one of

3240-454: Was born in Italy. Matarazzo financed the purchase of new, modern printing presses and saw the investment as a way to respond to the attacks he suffered from newspapers owned by his business rival Assis Chateaubriand . One of the weapons he developed for this battle was reducing the sales price of the Folhas in order to suffocate the business of Diários Associados , Chateaubriand's company. However,

3300-406: Was furnished with flammable items. Partitions, desks and chairs were made of wood, while ceilings were composed of cellulose fiber tiles set in wood strappings. The curtains and carpets were also flammable. At the time, no emergency lights , fire alarms , fire sprinkler systems, or emergency exits were installed in the building. There were only elevators and a common stairwell, which both ran

3360-538: Was preserved and developed by Casoy during his tenure (1977-1984). In 1983/1984, Folha was the main bastion for the Diretas Já movement, an attempt to change the voting system adopted for presidential selection, from a Congressional vote to direct popular voting. In 1984, Otavio Frias Filho became the editorial director, systematizing and developing the newspaper's experiences during the political opening and Diretas Já. A series of documents circulated periodically, defining

3420-421: Was primarily occupied by a single banking company, Banco Crefisul S/A, of which 756 employees were present. A person in an adjacent building reported the fire and first responders arrived on the scene at 9:10 a.m. Assistance was requested and further units arrived at 9:30 a.m., by which time flames were nearly to the roof of the building. The fire reached the building's only stairwell and climbed as high as

3480-792: Was set in 1994, with the launch of the "Atlas Folha/The New York Times" (1,117,802 copies for the Sunday edition.) Currently, Folha extended its range of communication activities, with newspapers, databanks, a polling institute, a newswire, a real-time news and entertainment service, a printing company for magazines and a delivery company. In 1991, all shares of Empresa Folha da Manhã then belonging to Carlos Caldeira Filho were transferred to Octavio Frias de Oliveira , Folha's publisher until his death in 2007. Folha's executive editors since 1984 have been journalists Matinas Suzuki (1991-1997), Eleonora de Lucena (2001-2010) and Sérgio Dávila (from March 2010). In 1967, Folha adopted full-color offset presses , becoming

3540-471: Was the first publication to appeal for his impeachment, which finally came in 1992. The newspaper's coverage about the administrations of Fernando Henrique Cardoso ( PSDB ) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ( PT ) led to accusations of anti-governmental bias in both cases, though the two Presidents belong to rival parties. Beginning with the exposure of a massive fraud on the Norte-Sul railway (1985), and through

3600-563: Was updated in new editions launched in 1987, 1992 and 2001. In 1989, Folha became the first Brazilian media vehicle to appoint an ombudsman, charged with receiving, evaluating and forwarding complaints by the readers, and to present critical comments both about Folha and other media vehicles. Nine journalists have occupied this position since then: Caio Túlio Costa, Mario Vitor Santos, Junia Nogueira de Sá, Marcelo Leite, Renata Lo Prete, Bernardo Ajzenberg, Marcelo Beraba, Mário Magalhães and Carlos Eduardo Lins da Silva. In February 2010, Suzana Singer

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