Folha de S. Paulo – The First of Many Pages

If a century passes in a second in the cyber eyes of 2023, a longer pause for reflection points to the pioneering spirit and initiative of two journalists.

As much as they would have liked to, journalists Olival Costa and Pedro Cunha probably had no idea that they were founding an institution that would be around for over a hundred years.

As a witness to the history of the country and the world, the newspaper was present at many important moments. As well as recording relevant facts, it has taken positions and promoted debates. With this stance, it has faced the most diverse reactions.

In its early years, the newspaper closely covered decisive events in Brazilian politics, such as the 1930 Revolution. Folha was one of the outlets that opposed the rise of Getúlio Vargas that year.

In the mid-1940s, there were two newspapers in the group, Folha da Noite and Folha da Manhã, the latter launched in 1925. Both followed the Second World War and the consequences of the conflicts in detail.

In January 1960, Folha was attentive to Juscelino Kubitschek's government, which promised to contain inflation. That same year, the company's three titles (Folha da Manhã, Folha da Noite and Folha da Tarde) merged to become Folha de S.Paulo.

Brazilian politics in the 1960s was marked by major upheavals. With the unexpected resignation of Jânio Quadros, João Goulart took power. On March 20, 1964, Folha documented a rally in São Paulo in defense of Jango's constitutional mandate.

The alternation between global and local issues is the merit of good media outlets. This quality was most evident in the coverage of major fires in São Paulo, such as the one at the Joelma building in 1974.

Folha covered a historic episode, the 1984 Diretas Já campaign rally in São Paulo's Anhangabaú Valley. Also of historical importance, unfortunately, was the Carandiru massacre, which the newspaper covered extensively eight years later.