It is the third edition of this Council that the main newspaper of Fortaleza promotes, and in it the title of “young reader” has been given to 46 young members of 43 entities of Ceará, including the Saint Monica Home, represented in Paulo Augusto da Costa Bezerra Filho.
A love of reading and a desire to transform society: these are the ingredients that of the people who make up the Council of Young Readers promoted by the local newspaper O Povo, born in 1928 and since then a benchmark for the defense of human civilians rights, freedom of expression and criticism of oligarchies and corrupt politics.
On March 31, at the Museum of Photography in Fortaleza (Ceará, Brazil), this newspaper organized the third edition of the Council making solemn delivery to its new members of the diploma that accredits them. One of the winners was Paulo Augusto da Costa Bezerra Filho, collaborator of the Saint Monica Home of the Augustinian Recollects.
Paulo Augusto is 24 years old, he is a marketing specialist and works as a community manager for the social networks of Saint Monica Home, the project of the Augustinian Recollects that fights against abuse, exploitation, abandonment, violence or any infringement of the fundamentals rights of underage girls and adolescents, who are sent by the competent authorities, in an internship regime to the institution.
The new members of the Council of Readers are 46 young people who meet the necessary conditions, the main one being proposed by an entity or institution related to the social transformation and solidarity. It is these institutions that propose them to form part of the Council, since they previously participated in them as volunteers, collaborators or workers.
A total of 43 entities from Ceará sent a representative who, once he is part of the Council, participates in monthly meetings where they discuss how to improve the publications of the O Povo group: evaluation of publications and articles, questions about the line editorial, proposal for public debates…
It is a support team for the democratization and pluralization of the journalistic task, coordinated by the corporate director of the newspaper, the journalist Cliff Villar, who speaks thus of the role of this Council of Young Readers:
“Their participation rejuvenates our vision and, in a way, confirms the DNA of our newspaper, founded by a poet 95 years ago. Our challenge today is to continue being young even if the company is long-lived. It is about stopping innovating without forgetting our almost century-old tradition. This Council gives us freer and more critical thinking, impetus youth that moves us ourselves”.
Present at the ceremony was Socorro França, Secretary of Human Rights of the Government of Ceará, who believes that these young people will encourage a critical spirit and defense social rights of people. She also suggested that they could be good collaborators in the eventual development of youth-oriented public policies.
Among the members of the Council, together with the representative of Saint Monica Home, there are other movements that fight for the rights of minorities or for rural development; of the world of law, commerce or business; of cultural, musical and libraries; of childhood support associations or those active in the most disadvantaged; health, science, technology and environment projects; Projects educational…
