VOTE NOW: Brazilian Partners Papo Reto nominated for The Bobs award

Our partners at Papo Reto (‘Straight Talk’) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  are nominated for a prestigious Internet award called The Bobs for their courageous reporting of police violence and other issues affecting the roughly 200,000 residents of the Complexo do Alemão favelas. Please support independent journalism and their inspiring work by taking two minutes to vote for them in the Best of Online Activism: People’s Choice, in Portuguese!*

In February, their  work was highlighted in the New York Times Magazine article that featured WITNESS’ Video as Evidence initiative. One of the co-founders of Papo Reto, Raull, said he was inspired to create the media collective because, “you give back what you can, while you can.” The New York Times describes Papo Reto’s work like this:

No newspaper or television reporters would set foot in Alemão, so [Papo Reto’s members] would take it upon themselves to report the news from their favelas. Their intention was to draw attention to the conditions in Alemão — the blackouts, the curfews, the suffocating police presence — and to warn residents to avoid particularly volatile areas. Some of Papo Reto’s members were part-time stringers for newspapers in Rio; others, like Raull, were activists armed with little more than their smartphones and tablets.

Priscila Neri, our Senior Program Manager who oversees our work in Brazil, recently reported that the area where  Papo Reto is based in, a cluster of 15 favelas called Complexo de Alemão, experienced more than 90  straight days of gunfire (although the state government has labeled the community as “pacified” since 2010). The most recent police shooting there killed a 10-year-old boy named Eduardo as he was playing by his front door.  The coverage of the protests that followed his murder can be viewed here and here.

Raull and his fellow reporters at Papo Reto put themselves in harms way daily in order to bear witness to systemic abuses like the shooting that killed Eduardo. Please consider supporting their vital work using video for justice and accountability with a one click vote for them at The Bobs, now through May 3rd. And be sure to share with your friends and networks!

*Log in with a social media profile and then click “vote”