Editors and journalists from some of the world’s largest news organizations wrote to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro asking him to “urgently step up efforts and provide full funding” to find the missing British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira.
Led by the Guardian and the Washington Post, two newspapers for which Phillips worked as a freelance correspondent, editors from at least 20 major media outlets and press freedom organizations signed the open letter, published on Thursday.
Other signatories include senior editors from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Folha de S.Paulo, National Public Radio, Bloomberg News, Associated Press, Pulitzer Center, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, ProPublica, The Intercept, Agência Pública de Jornalismo Investigativo, Dagens Nyheter, Mongabay, Stat, Reporters Without Borders, the Wallace House Press Center and the epbr.
“We are writing to express our extreme concern for the safety and whereabouts of our colleague and friend Dom Phillips and Bruno Araujo Pereira, with whom Dom was traveling. Dom is a world-renowned journalist with a deep love for Brazil and its people, “said the letter, which was also addressed to Brazilian defense ministers and foreign ministers.
“As you will know from numerous press releases, Dom and Bruno have been missing in the Amazon for more than three days. Their families, friends and colleagues have repeatedly sought the assistance of local, state and national authorities and emergency services.
“As editors and colleagues who have worked with Dom, we are now very concerned by reports from Brazil that search and rescue efforts have so far been minimal, with national authorities slowly offering more than very limited assistance.
“We urgently ask you to step up and provide a full resource for the efforts to find Dom and Bruno and to provide all possible support to their families and friends.”
The two men were last seen on Sunday morning on the Itaquai River in far west Brazil.
Rescue team tasked with mission to find missing British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira on the Havary River in Acre, Brazil, on the border with Peru Photo: Amazon Military Command / AFP / Getty Images
Phillips was working on a book on tropical forest development and was accompanied by Pereira, a researcher who has worked with indigenous tribes in the region for years.
The area they traveled to is remote and the search effort is slow. Hours after the two men were reported missing, the Brazilian military said they were awaiting orders before a search began.
Until Wednesday, when public pressure intensified amid campaigns by celebrities such as football legend Pele, singer / songwriter Caetano Veloso and actor Camila Pitanga, officials said they had increased operations with 250 people, two planes, three drones and 16 the ship involved in the Search.
Police said they had arrested a man whom sources said had been seen with Phillips and Pereira, but officials said they had not linked him directly to any crime.
At the same time, media organizations have banded together to put pressure on a government that has shown contempt for the media since taking office in 2019.
The extremist president of Brazil often attacks the press, even pointing out reporters with insults and abuses.
Bolsonaro even seems to blame Phillips and Pereira for their own problems when he called their reportage “an adventure not recommended for anyone.”
In an editorial, the Guardian called on governments and organizations to put pressure on the far-right leader.
“It is unlikely that the government will change course without international pressure,” it said. “This must first be taken into account in order to obtain an adequate response to this disappearance.”
Full list of signatories to the letter
Catherine Wiener, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian News & Media
Sally Busby, executive editor of the Washington Post
Dean Buckett, executive editor of the New York Times
Sergio Davila, Editor-in-Chief, Folha de S.Paulo
Nancy Barnes, Senior Vice President of News and Editorial Director, NPR
John Michaelwaite, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News
Julie Pace, SVP and Executive Editor, Associated Press
Juan Forero, head of the South American Bureau, Wall Street Journal
Marina Walker Guevara, Executive Editor, Pulitzer Center
Rosina Breen, Editor-in-Chief and Chief Executive Officer of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Steven Engelberg, Editor-in-Chief, ProPublica
Paul Webster, Observer Editor
Jason Uckman, Managing Editor, Stat
Tiago Domenichi, Director, Agência Pública de Jornalismo Investigativo
Rhett Butler, Founder and CEO, Mongabay
Petar Volodarski, Editor-in-Chief, Dagens Nyheter
Roger Hodge, Deputy Editor of Intercept
Felipe Masiel, Executive Director, Epbr
Phil Chetwind, Global Director of News, AFP
Emmanuel Columbie, director for Latin America, Reporters Without Borders
Lynette Clemetson, director of the Wallace House Press Center
Quinn McCue, Executive Director, Article 19
Gregory Pfeiffer, Executive Director of the Institute for Current World Affairs
Lindsay Hillsum, International Editor, Channel 4 News
Christina Lamb, chief foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times
Krishnan Guru-Dead, Channel 4 News presenter
John Lee Anderson, biographer and staff writer, New Yorker
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