First openly gay journalist to present the National Journal, from TV Globo, Matheus ribeiro he left the station this week amid a stormy situation to say the least.
Ribeiro, a famous presenter beloved by the public on TV Anhaguera (Globo de Goiânia), wrote an incisive letter in which he explains the reasons why he decided to leave the channel. Among them, according to the journalist stated in the document, are low wages, persecution and a bad work environment.
Read Ribeiro's resignation letter below (originally published by Léo Dias, columnist for UOL):
“Brenda,
In view of all the facts of the last few weeks, I will request the indirect termination of my employment contract with the broadcaster.
The way I have been treated here, the restrictions that have been imposed, the illegalities that have been committed and the treatment that is incompatible with my delivery as anchor of the main newspaper in the house force me to make this decision.
You know, but it doesn't hurt to remember:
1) A month ago, you told the editor-in-chief to issue a warning to me because of a photo with the girl I give a massage to, with the argument that this would be “advertising”. In addition to the stupidity in the interpretation (since I have dozens of photos with Ms. Elna, our makeup artist, and this was never seen as any publicity), the broadcaster seems to not know the value of its professional. I wouldn't advertise for a massage that costs 100 reais. I posted the photo because it's someone I like and social media is for sharing our daily lives.
2) You cut my salary without telling me, after putting pressure on me to fulfill a workload that, in practice, never existed. If there was contractual overtime in my salary, that was a mistake that the company itself arranged to compensate for the meager salary that was always paid to me. Neither I nor my other Journalism colleagues are obliged to clock in, due to the daily changes made to our schedules. It's documented. Even so, illegally, they used turnstile access control as an argument. If I said myself that the way forward was to cut these overtime hours, I expected a sensible stance from management, in respect for my dedication and history at the house. With colleagues who perform inferior functions than me and do not deliver the same results that I deliver, earning salaries above 15 thousand reais, for TV to pay me a salary of R$ 3.900,00 is outrageous.
3) The pressure for me to stop carrying out activities in my company that do not even have an ethical conflict with my journalistic work. For more than a year, you and other directors have been fully aware that my company bought media for some clients here in the group. I even considered that this was well regarded, as I informed that there were no other communication vehicles in the media plans developed by my agency: I have always brought my clients' funds to this company, for which I have always been grateful and appreciative. Ronaldo's request for me to make a choice between the newspaper and my media contracts was disrespectful, as there has always been full knowledge of the activities I carry out, something that is documented with contracts, emails, letters of accreditation, invoices and even gifts I received for being an agency owner.
4) Last but not least regrettable, this ridiculous halt that management wants to impose on my performance on social media, something that was and is widely exploited by the broadcaster to benefit its products. I have the largest number of followers among our colleagues, my networks surpass those of the broadcaster itself, I have a good relationship with my audience, I convert this into results for the newspaper… Forbid me from going live to talk to my friends and chat with followers it borders on unmotivated censorship, for the simple pleasure of exercising power.
Add to all this older problems, which were never “remembered” in our conversations, such as the fact that I have presented the newspaper for years and have the role of reporter in my contract.
I arrived here as a young boy, raw and needing to learn. I am very grateful for the opportunities I have been given and I believe I have demonstrated this for a long time. I'm sure I've already repaid everything the company did for me. But this relationship has been unequal and toxic for some time. I am unhappy with this work environment, I feel disrespected, belittled and underutilized.
I would just like to understand the motivation for such a belligerent, arbitrary and exaggerated stance towards me. I am curious and intrigued to understand the reason for the persecution, this need to rein in… Did any of my actions generate this need? Is something bothering you enough to generate all this?
Personal preferences aside, I am a professional who fulfills his duties and delivers results beyond expectations. It's worth remembering that, with the work of an extremely competent team that I'm proud to be part of, JA2 recently reached one of its largest audiences in history. Remember that, in case you don't remember, we've hit other times since I started presenting.
Hearing, as I heard from Ronaldo, in front of him, that I have “a great future ahead of me in the company” is incompatible with reality. I have been presenting the newspaper with the highest audience in Goiás for five years. My future is today. For me, TV is in the past.
Best Regards,
Matheus Ribeiro”
