São Paulo bus riots 2013 — a good post?

June 13, 2013 12:29 PM

Today will mark the third day of increasingly violent rioting over a bus fare increase in my hometown, São Paulo. Would this make a good post? If yes, what kind of post is best? Thanks!
posted by Tom-B to Etiquette/Policy at 12:29 PM (25 comments total)

Yeah I think it's fine to make a post about this. If you're close to the story you'd know a lot about it. I'd try to find some good links, make sure you're not affiliated with the people in them and tell us what's going on. That said, MeTa isn't really for trial ballooning MeFi posts but we'd be happy to look over a draft post if you want to send it to the contact form.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:35 PM on June 13, 2013

With local news of significance, I think it helps to provide enough background and context that outsiders can comprehend how the current event came to be. Were there past events of this sort, and this is just the latest? Has everything been calm up to now, but something changed to trigger this event? Were there quiet events that didn't garner attention that lead up to this recent major event?

I get annoyed when reading local coverage of foreign events that "cut to the chase" and/or focus on the blood/violence, leaving the uninformed reader to guess or make assumptions as to the larger question of "why now."
posted by filthy light thief at 12:43 PM on June 13, 2013 [10 favorites]

I totally agree with filthy light thief. I appreciate learning about my fellow world citizens are going through, and I hope they are willing to understand that I would like the background on their big happenings so I can really grok the weight of what's going down.

That said, our mods are totally awesome about giving useful, kind, to the point feedback about possible posts and I encourage you to take advantage of their expertise and willingness.
posted by batmonkey at 12:51 PM on June 13, 2013

Tom-B please make it. I guess you might find it hard to find good English language links that can explain the background adeequately, I know that is the problem I oten run into.
My feeling is that metafilter needs many more posts on stories and people from outside America. I know the Americans are a majority here but many have travelled extensively and lived abroard. Also USA is not the world and there are lots of cool and interesting things out there from other countries. Anything that shows how others have to live is educational so go for it. Just remember to divorce yourself from whatever you post after you have pressed the button. It's best for your blood pressure.
posted by adamvasco at 12:57 PM on June 13, 2013 [10 favorites]

Globo don't seem to have much about it, and I know something is going down in Rio, as a friend of mine tells me there is a big protest today and the city is more chaotic than usual.
posted by adamvasco at 1:02 PM on June 13, 2013

Context, context, context.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:17 PM on June 13, 2013

I'd love to read about it - I haven't been able to find good context about what is going on.
posted by winna at 1:45 PM on June 13, 2013

adamvasco: "Tom-B please make it. I guess you might find it hard to find good English language links that can explain the background adeequately, I know that is the problem I oten run into.

If this is indeed a problem you're running into, Tom-B, you can speak with the mods via the contact form to determine if they're okay with a link (or links) in Portuguese being included in the post. If you have a link to general info in English, and more detailed links in Portuguese (or Spanish, for that matter) I would be willing to bet they'd say, "Go for it." .

My feeling is that metafilter needs many more posts on stories and people from outside America.

Completely agree. Would love to see more non-US-centric posts.

Also USA is not the world and there are lots of cool and interesting things out there from other countries.

Blasphemer! :D
posted by zarq at 2:14 PM on June 13, 2013

If you have a link to general info in English, and more detailed links in Portuguese (or Spanish, for that matter) I would be willing to bet they'd say, "Go for it." .

Absolutely.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:16 PM on June 13, 2013 [2 favorites]

I included some French-language links in this post on marriage in France because I couldn't find good English-language articles on some of the topics I really wanted to include. I tried to provide enough links in English to provide good context, and some translated pull-quotes from the French articles.
posted by mbrubeck at 3:46 PM on June 13, 2013

I'd just like to note that local coverage in the native language is an awesome addition to posts, even if I'm a cretin and need to read a machine translation of it.
posted by bfranklin at 5:39 PM on June 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yes, please. We don't want news outside the US border to be restricted to cheese rolling.
posted by arcticseal at 6:00 PM on June 13, 2013

Cheese rolling IS important news though.
posted by Umami Dearest at 7:14 AM on June 14, 2013

Amid violent protest crackdown, Sao Paolo cop smashes his own car's window
posted by homunculus at 9:51 AM on June 14, 2013

Here is a tumblr explaining a little bit about the protests in english (might be NSFW). The journalist who was arrested for carrying vinegar is a friend of mine and was already released yesterday.

Some link in portuguese:

Police starts confrontation, attacks the press and makes São Paulo a stage of war

In São Paulo, vinegar gets you arrested

Photographer at risk of losing his eyesight after being hit by rubber bullet

Increase of R$ 0.20 in the bus fare forces low income citizens to skip meals


Some news in english and spanish:

Bus-Fare Protests Hit Brazil’s Two Biggest Cities

Sao Paulo vive una batalla campal entre policías y manifestantes
posted by florzinha at 10:17 AM on June 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I was there yesterday and it was hardcore, tear gas, cavalry with SWORDS out, rubber bullets whizzing by... I saw a reporter from Globo break down in tears, there's talk of another journalist having lost an eye... I'll wait a bit to let "my blood cool down" (as we say in Portuguese) and will try to prepare a quality post. Obrigado!
posted by Tom-B at 11:08 AM on June 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Meanwhile, if anyone comes across good links to include, please memail them to me! thanks!
posted by Tom-B at 11:14 AM on June 14, 2013

The post is live. Mods, please feel free to close this thread. Thanks everyone!
posted by Tom-B at 7:31 PM on June 14, 2013

We'll probably leave it open unless there's an actual reason to close it. Who knows, maybe it will be somehow useful later on in the post's life. Thanks for putting this together, scary stuff.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:43 PM on June 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Here's a somewhat useful comment; I was able to say to friends from college who live in São Paulo when they mentioned the protests on Facebook today that I had thought about them when I "heard about this yesterday" -- so thanks for making me seem much more informed that I normally would be.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:19 PM on June 14, 2013 [3 favorites]

Well done Tom-B it's flying. Thanks for the name check. This brings an interesting thought to mind about collective FPPs which are not common, rather a post being made and then individuals fleshing it out so to speak. I think more future collabotration couls be an interesting way to go because of the depth of knowledge here. How to achieve it , I have no idea but I would like to see more.
posted by adamvasco at 12:30 AM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Great fpp btw, thanks for posting that.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 1:32 AM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Tom-B: "Would this make a good post?"

It is an excellent post.
posted by double block and bleed at 11:23 AM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

Thanks everyone. There's a new protest scheduled for today, in a few hours in fact. I'm going, and if anyone's still interested I'm reporting on it in the other thread.
posted by Tom-B at 12:38 PM on June 17, 2013

Thanks planetesimal! Just got back, it was 100% non-violent and epic. Doing a little live-commenting in the other thread!
posted by Tom-B at 9:03 PM on June 17, 2013