Water, Air and Earth

Jon: just a short post today, because a.) we still have to download photos and I'm too tired to do it tonight, and b.) we have another early call tomorrow and I REALLY need to get some sleep.

The two real high points of the day today were our trip on the Xingu river to gather some sound and some images of life along this stretch of the river just by Alta Mira, and our 'field trip' to a community action meeting in any extremely remote little settlement in a part of Para state that will either be completely under water when the dam is completed or certainly cut off from much of the outside world.

First the water excursion: you'll have to wait for the video of this one, since I don't have an easy way to post it right now. Suffice it to say, there were some really strong impressions. First, we are talking about a lot of water. The stretch of the Xingu river next to the little city of Alta Mira is just one branch of the mighty Amazon waterway. Even as a relative 'back-water' (I mean that as a literal description, not to denigrate Alta Mira, which I am coming to like quite a lot), the Xingu river is close to two miles wide at this point, a little more than 200 Km from where it meets up with the Amazon proper.

There is a lot of water here, and if the dam is constructed as planned, levels could rise 6, 8 or 20 meters, depending on who you ask. A trip on the river was imperative, so we contracted with one of the local boaters, and set out with Thiago to record some amazing images and sounds, which we will share later.

Xingu River boat landing, Alta Mira, Brazil

The second big adventure was the trip to a rural settlement where about 50 people were meeting to discuss actions they were planning to take in connection with the pending construction of the dam. A lot of the discussion concerned payments offered by the federal government and how they should be handled. The overwhelming message, articulated by our new community organizing contact Marcello Salazar, was that however the government intended to treat these people, it needed to be done with due process, not rushed through in the attempt to sweep aside the interests and wishes of the people living here. The location was really quite beautiful, about 20 miles off the nearby highway, in a remote area that is slated to be entirely covered by water when the dam is constructed. The circle of residents appeared well organized, with several speakers, handouts and even a manifesto that was proposed to the group. Again, we got some great video and sound, but you will have to wait for them. What I am sharing here below, however, is this amazing picture of the sunset, as we bounced our way back to the main highway, heading back to Alta Mira. I've seen beautiful cloud formations in my life, but this was lurid, exotic, passionate color, followed just a few minutes later by great sheets of jagged lightening. It was a dramatic end to a very busy day.

Amazon Sunset, Para State, Brazil

Tomorrow, an interview with the woman who has become something of a heroine in these environmental wars, an indigenous woman who has very quickly become the voice of those who will be affected by the dam. I'm excited to finally meet Sheyla Juruna - you can see lots of stuff about her by searching for her name on You Tube. More reports tomorrow, if I can still stand up!

Bem noite.

Scorched Earth Policy

Jon: It was one of those clueless pieces of TV journalism that make me cringe. As the videographer/producer/reporter on this trip, I thought we should do a stand-up on the reality of deforestation in the Amazon. Claes and our local translator/producer/fixer/photographer-all-around great guy Thiago Diniz took us to a stretch of land that was so recently deforested that it was still smoking. Some how I had come to believe - like most Americans, I suspect - that when you clear a stretch of the rain forest, one day you have hundred foot tall trees and clinging vines and the next day you have flat, grassland. Well, of course, that view is totally wrong. The land has to go through a brutal and chaotic transition when the majority of the greenery has been torn down, but there still exists massive tree trunks, burning brush, and a huge mound of branches, smoking wood, and torched landscape. So I set out to do a stand up saying something about how 'the big industrial companies tear down the forests to make more money and to exploit the environment - blah, blah, blah.' When we finished the short stand-up, a small crowd of squatters who were making this hellish landscape their home walked over to us to investigate. As Claes began to communicate with them, it became clear that these people had nothing to do with big corporations. In fact, this property had been cleared by a loose collective of families who were doing their best to scratch out a better life for themselves and their families. In our conversations with the mixed group of three families, they claimed that the construction of the massive Belo Monte dam forced them from their old homes.

Deforestation, Alta Mira Brazil - Thiago Diniz Photo

There was no way for us to verify this of course. It could be just as likely that they are opportunistic speculators trying to make some money off this land. In that scenario, the actual "owners" of the property demand that the squatters leave. In turn, the squatters stand their ground and say they won't leave until they are paid. In other words, it could be a big shake-down. Nonetheless, these people did not appear to be evil speculators. They looked like a blended family trying to make something for themselves under very meager circumstances. Which was why we re-shot the stand up, with Thiago on camera, and Claes doing his usual intense and flawless audio recording. In explaining this little tale, I can't emphasize enough the scorched, no-man's land feeling of the place. It was positively apocalytic. The 100 or so acres looke like a bomb had exploded, except that scattered throughout this burning field, there were shanty's, huts and lean-tos that were serving as the house and homes of the people living here. Another irony is that the edge of this burned out field was right up against a military post, with manicured lawns, gates, flowers and an immaculate landscape. It only added to the dark and terrifying landscape we walked into, just across the Xingu river from the Brazilian city of Alta Mira.

Boots on the Ground

Jon: We're finally in Brazil. After 23+ hours of travel, the brief nap this afternoon in Manaus wasn't enough to catch up on sleep. We had a great dinner down town, near the historic Teatro Amazona, which is slightly out of place in one sense, but brilliant and beautiful on the other. More on the Teatro and the Portuguese in this part of the country later.

Mostly, I just want to send a single impression: flying north from Sao Paulo, I just couldn't help but dozing off, in something resembling sleep - I wasn't completely out, but I sure wasn't awake.

As the announcement came over the speaker system to 'fasten seat belts, get ready to land' I raised the shade and looked out the window for the first time in an hour or two.

It took my breath away.


The Amazon basin is so vast and so critical that it is sort of inevitable. We will be telling political stories and videotaping interviews in the next couple of days, all reflecting on the social, political and above all, environmental importance of the enormous plain. You can't help but feel, though, that the Amazon deals with the world on its own terms. It's not just a reference in studies, and the subject of vast quantities of science, journalism, art and culture.


I had been hearing all of this since childhood: how immense the rain forest is, how dazzling the play of water, trees, earth, and people.

But nothing prepares you for the inevitability of it all, the reality that these are the lungs of the planet, and the health of this sprawling giant is in fact, the health of the rest of the world.

Seeing the interplay of green foliage, muddy river, and towering cumulus tropical storm clouds, azure sky and the ocean in the distance - it is one of those deeply moving and memorable sites.

You will always remember your first view of the Amazon.

Down to the wire...

Jon: We managed to sell three more stories this morning, just two days
before leaving for Brazil.

It is great news, of course. We can use the work and also, it's for a new
client show we've never worked with before.

The problem, of course, is that it is going to be hard to get interview
subjects lined up before we go. Mostly, the existing interviews will work
for this new story, but still, it makes me anxious to not have all these
people lined up.

Claes has reminded me, however, that we have a really good record of landing
these interviews on the road. The really good news is that so many of the
other interviews and requests for assistance in each place we are going
seems to be falling into place. Carolina has been a godsend. She's set up
a number of interviews and has been persistent in reaching people whom we
were unable to reach.

Two of the interview subjects we've been pursuing for a couple of weeks now
have actually confirmed appointments. Whew...

I don't want to mention names at this juncture, but they will become clear
in future dispatches.

Now to get a bit of sleep...we have 20+ hours of flights ahead of us.

Massive Impact from Dam in Brazil

Pristine Jungle on the Edge of Devastation
Jon: The awe-inspiring images in this video depict a rich and endangered wilderness, and gives an idea of the vast resources the country of Brazil has in its back yard. In this northeastern region, the state-controlled energy company Norte Energia is building the world's third largest dam. This will likely lead to tens of thousands of people being displaced, and a reduction in what scientists call “the carbon sink”, the atmospheric sponge that soaks up many greenhouse gasses, especially methane and CO2. You can see that this patch of the Amazon is not a ‘deserted wilderness.’ Rather, communities have lived along the edges of the Amazon basin for most of human history. It is not just the river’s future that is at stake, it is their way of life. We are going to produce audio, video and photo reports on the construction of this dam, and what it could mean not only to the people living here, but also to the government of Brazil, and to the rest of the world.

Stark Choices
Claes: The sprawling Amazon basin absorbs between a quarter and a third of all the CO2 produced by the planet’s burning of fossil fuels. That means the region is vital to the health of the planet’s air. Since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed, a quarter of that just since 2000, representing an area larger than the state of California. Development is virtually slicing away at the lungs of the planet. For a booming country like Brazil, infrastructure, resources, food, and above all power are imperative if it intends to provide its citizens the quality of life they have come to expect.

It’s Complicated…
Jon: Critical environmental stories can’t be framed as simply ‘big government = bad’ and ‘noble environmental activists = good.’ The challenges Brazil faces are not new; they are faced by countries with growing economies everywhere. In Brazil’s case, the stakes are extraordinarily high, because the consequences could affect people far beyond their borders. Telling this kind of story takes stamina, diplomacy, and technical expertise; but with more and more news operations abandoning or cutting back on international coverage, they are coming to rely on independent media operations to ‘get the story’, and to craft it in a way that is understandable, unbiased, and compelling. This is where you come in…

You can make history
Claes: If you are familiar with our work, you know the care, time, and thoroughness we put into each story we do. That takes scrupulous research, hard-hitting interviews, technically flawless recording, and careful production and distribution. That work doesn’t come cheaply. While commitments from a number of international radio programs will help us defray some of our expenses, the rising costs of equipment, travel, production assistance, and room and board, puts many stories out of our reach. By supporting our effort on KickStarter you can participate in a new and promising model of how journalism is produced. By pledging a small amount, you can have a huge effect in getting this important story to a broad, world-wide audience.

What we are up to
Jon: As in the past, we will produce a range of content. In addition to our signature long-form radio pieces, we will also produce video content, photo slide shows, and other media, including dispatches to our social media, and email to a select audience of supporters. This material will form part of not only individual audio, video and online photo stories, it will also make up the documentary we will be producing. While we can’t disclose the names of our international distributors at present, what is verifiable is our past history of producing content for National Public Radio, BBC’s The World, many Swedish National Public Radio programs, KCET Channel 13 in Los Angeles, and syndicated programs including Living on Earth, Latino USA, California Report, Sirius Satellite Radio, and many others. You can have confidence that we will continue in this direction. With your help in subsidizing some of the costs associated with travel, production and editing, these respected broadcasters, programmers, and networks will be able to afford to acquire our high-quality work.

Decades of Experience
Claes: Between us, we have thousands of projects and years of experience telling award winning stories to audiences virtually around the world. I have been associated with Swedish public media for almost two decades, as a reporter, editor and anchor. I have also produced special projects for UCLA, St. Mary’s College, and arts organizations across southern California. Jon has taught as Professor of Broadcast Journalism at Cal State LA for over a decade, and has hosted radio programs from Los Angeles and New York, and is a respected journalist who has worked in radio, TV, and online. Together, our stories have garnered recognition and many awards. Our account of the survivors of nuclear testing in Nevada (“Dirty Harry: How the American Dream Became a Nightmare” produced in 2008 for PRX) won an award from the LA Press Club, and our joint reporting on the politics of water in the central valley of California, and a series of stories from Peru in 2009 earned the respect of listeners and other journalists alike. I am the winner of three LA Press Club awards, and a range of awards in Sweden. Jon is the winner of 10 Golden Mikes from the Radio TV News Association of Southern California, in addition to dozens of other awards and recognition.

It’s a Brave New World
Jon: We want you along for this adventure. Your support will not only make it possible for us to continue this award winning coverage, it will also mean that you will be travelling with us. We’ll report back to you from the field, and you can get copies of the work we produce. It’s also a chance for us to find out if this new funding model can actually succeed in getting out this vital, and compelling series of stories. While we are deeply grateful for your support, the thanks will come from the listeners who hear these stories. You can feel the satisfaction that you played a part in telling them.

Here's the Pitch
Please, do this now: go to http://tinyurl.com/3cefd3q and click on the green "Back this Project" button on the right side of the page.

Be generous. We need support at all levels. If you can afford a dollar, great! If you can afford $20, wow! If you can afford more, we will be forever in your debt. You can be confident that your support is going to an important cause.

This only takes a couple of seconds. Please pledge your support; it’s as precious as the air you breathe...

Marcelino

Jon: Essentially the first interview we conducted in the Cordillera region of Peru was a farmer in the little village of 'Copa Grande', about 15 Km. up from the valley floor. The dirt road to this little community is heavily rutted and rock strewn, and yet it is the basic life-line of this little 'barrio'.

Claes had met this young farmer Marcelino Cruz Leyva on his trip last year, but Cruz hadn't figured prominently in much of his coverage then. This time, we wanted to capture the reality of Marcelino's life, which is at once brave and back-breaking on one hand, and in peril on the other.

We were scheduled to meet Marcelino at about 2:00 pm in Copa Grande, but ran into him on the road at the base of the mountain, where he was hiking the 15 Km. back home, carrying a 100 Lb. bag of fertilizer on his back up the mountain. We quickly threw his bag of fertilizer in the van being driven by our beloved driver Hugo, and were able to save Marcelino that back-breaking effort.

What you see here is a long-form version of our interview with Marcelino; I'm asking questions off camera, and Claes is recording the audio. We'll use excerpts of this interview in our longer stories. (Many thanks to Luis Fuentes for editing!)

Copa Story, on The World, Dec. 16, 2009

Jon: I am hoping that this posting works: here is a link to the first of our pieces to air on US network radio. The piece is on the Copa Grande climate change, and features rich sound recorded by Claes. The piece aired on the BBC/PRI/WGBH radio program "The World" on Dec. 16, 2009.