On Friday, October 27th, it became public that two members of the Foro de Teresina had left the podcast bank. The news caused a huge uproar on social media Piauí were accused of two unacceptable behaviors: firing professionals without cause and carrying out “acts of censorship.” With this in mind, the magazine understood that it had to publicly explain to forum listeners, magazine subscribers and website visitors what had actually happened.
In May 2019, journalist Thais Bilenky was hired to cover politics for the Brasíliabased magazine and website. In January 2021, when journalist Malu Gaspar left the Piauí In order to work at the newspaper O Globo, I invited Thais to take over Malu’s position at Foro, without prejudice to previous activities.
Seven months later, Thais had to spend some time in São Paulo, her hometown. At that time, in August 2021, we agreed that she would resume her post in Brasília as soon as possible. The actually provisional agreement was maintained, contrary to the magazine’s plans. There were also issues of an internal nature of the magazine, the details of which were: Piauí reserves the right not to publish it publicly, both as the prerogative of each press organization and to preserve the privacy of its professionals. Suffice it to say that despite the talent and correctness of good reporters and Thais has such qualities, as was evident, for example, in the recent podcast “Alexandre” newsrooms change the composition of their team of experts to meet the dynamics of events and the industry itself.
On the morning of Tuesday, October 24, Thais left the company in a conversation in the newsroom in Rio de Janeiro. Piauí and thus also the forum. I offered her the opportunity to say goodbye to podcast listeners in whatever way she saw fit. I then informed his two bank colleagues Fernando de Barros e Silva and José Roberto de Toledo about his departure. At night, Thais informed me that she had spoken to them and decided to just say goodbye without participating in the rest of the episode. I agreed and thanked him.
Two days later, on Thursday morning, the week’s episode was recorded, now in the presence of journalist Ana Clara Costa. The reception went smoothly, albeit in an atmosphere of consternation due to Thais’ departure. Late on Thursday afternoon, Thais recorded her farewell in the presence of Foro’s two colleagues. Excitedly, she made an elegant and professional statement. I wrote to her to thank her.
But as soon as Thais finished his farewell, Toledo took the floor and announced that he would resign at that very moment in protest against the departure of his colleague, of which he had been informed two days earlier. He later wrote on social media that Thais’ dismissal was “unjustified,” even though he had no knowledge of the company’s internal affairs. Piauí since July 2022. At that time, Toledo asked me to leave Piauí and remain only as a member of the forum to which I have agreed. Since then he has been working on the UOL portal.
When I heard the recording of the surprise firing, I recommended not including the excerpt in the episode. As announced, Toledo’s firing, without warning to management and disregarding normal procedures, merely exploited the magazine’s platform to target the magazine itself. Furthermore, it overshadowed the exit of the Thais, on whom the attention should have been focused at that moment.
To view the exclusion of the excerpt as an act of “censorship,” that very serious word, is to ignore Piauí, as is typical of the specialist press, has the fundamental prerogative to only produce and publish content on its podcasts, networks, pages and websites that does not constitute an insult to itself. Loyal criticism, even if harsh, is welcome, as are the countless readers who have already published in Piauí extremely negative opinions about the magazine.
It is clear that every professional has the right to resign for any reason and at any time. The members who left the forum whether voluntarily or involuntarily always behaved professionally and said goodbye to the audience without the magazine’s management intervening. This happened before with Malu Gaspar. It just happened to Thais Bilenky.
And unfortunately there is a farewell here again. Now from the Teresina Forum itself, which is ending its activities after five and a half years. A Piauí assumes that the conditions for the continuation of the forum as before have been exhausted. This Friday, Fernando de Barros e Silva, who remains at the magazine where he was previously editorial director, will say goodbye in the final act of the podcast.
Finally, this Piauí Regrets that the end of the partnership with Thais, which was conducted and received with courtesy, has led to inappropriate public exposure of his professional life on social media. To her, to Piauí Thank you for your work and wish you good luck and success.