Record fires reporter who leaked Lula’s interview to the market before it aired

Reporter Renata Varandas was fired from Record on Thursday morning (18). Responsible for political coverage in Brasília (DF), Varandas was dismissed after leaking to the financial market excerpts of an interview she did with President Lula for Jornal da Record last Tuesday (16) before it aired.

Published by the brokerage firm BGC, the text was attributed to Capital Advice, a political analysis agency of which Renata Varandas, the author of the interview, is one of the three partners. The case was anticipated by Sheet last Tuesday (18).

The company passed on to investors the statement that Lula said he still needed to be convinced about the need for spending cuts and that the fiscal target did not necessarily need to be met, although he had committed to the fiscal framework.

On Tuesday, the dollar jumped and market analysts assessed that the president’s statements had caused noises of fiscal uncertainty.

The effects of the statements on the exchange rate began around 12:20 p.m., when the dollar’s value began to accelerate. At 12:43 p.m., the American currency began to rise against the real, rising until reaching the session’s high at 1:40 p.m., at R$5.462 — an appreciation of 0.33% compared to the previous day’s close.

At 1:48 p.m., Record broadcast the part of the interview that caused market noise, and the dollar returned to negative territory. At the end of the day, the currency closed down 0.31%, at R$5.428. On a volatile day, the stock market also remained in negative territory after the president’s statements.

Renata Varandas was removed on Wednesday (17). Record felt uncomfortable with the leak for two reasons. The first, of course, was the breach of trust of a journalist who was at the height of her prestige at Record. In addition to being a reporter, Renata was the presenter of Jornal da Record when the incumbent, Christina Lemos, was not there.

The second was that the leak created strong noise in Record’s relationship with the Lula government, which has been rebuilt in recent months after problems that the parties had before Lula won the 2022 elections. The team at the Ministry of Finance, led by Fernando Haddad, was the most bothered by the case.

The dismissal only occurred this Thursday (18) because executives who liked Renata Varandas’ work tried to turn the case around, which was not achieved.

Wanted by F5Record Brasília confirmed the dismissal. “Record informs the dismissal of reporter Renata Varandas, who, as of this Thursday (07/18/2024), is no longer part of the broadcaster’s journalism team”. Renata Varandas was also contacted, but did not respond to the messages.