Saulo de Tarso F. Netto (photo), editor of Correio Espírita and president of the Cultural Centre Correio Espírita in Niterói, talks about the role of the Spiritist media and the history of challenges the publication has faced.  Dear Saulo, tell us about your journey: how

I lived in Niterói and was on the last year of university in the city of Rio de Janeiro when my father recommended that I began attending a Spiritist centre he was going to regularly, UMEN. I never really accepted the principles of the Catholic Church and became interested. But I was busy with my course and missed most of the sessions. But after I finished my degree I got fully committed and began attending the meetings at UNEM regularly. Eventually I joined the board and I am now in charge of the newspaper. 

How did the idea of publishing the paper begin?

It is a long story. In the beginning we published on A4 paper and had 50 copies for each issue. We had another paper, CEPEAK, which was distributed free of charge to many Spiritist groups. But I could hear an inner voice telling me: “The paper needs to expand, the paper needs to expand.” After 5 years, CEPEAK had grown into a 12-page tabloid-format newspaper with 5,000 copies published for each issue. We then decided to found Correio Espírita, which was first published on December 3^rd 2004.  

Correio Espírita is now sold on newsagents. Tell us a bit more about the paper. 

We began the enterprise without realizing how big it could get. The paper was published every two months and had a low profile. But we had the determination, the Spiritual support and the experience from five years with CEPEAK. We then went out looking for advertisement and were rejected again and again, including by Spiritist businessmen. We decided that the paper would try to reach the whole state of Rio de Janeiro, not only the city of Niterói. Many Spiritist leaders used to question us and our credentials, our knowledge of Spiritism etc. To be honest, we have had more disappointments than joys. Many criticised us for being after money because we carried ads. But we signed contracts with a major publisher in Rio, which made sense. The idea was to take Spiritism beyond the boundaries of Spiritist Centres. But we faced all sorts of problems with the distribution, including prejudice by some newsagents who used to hide our publication instead of selling it. We were determined to carry on, however, knowing that the paper would get credibility through the quality of its articles. A message psychographed by the medium Ermance Dufaux, in Posthumous Works, sets the guidelines for the effective and serious dissemination of Spiritism, followed step by step by Kardec. But unfortunately most of the Spiritist leaders know very little about how to disseminate the Teachings. We recommend the chapter Spiritist Review in the aforementioned book. The beginning was difficult and keeping the publication going is not easy. But we now have monthly editions with 16 pages, 4 of each in colour, sold in eight Brazilian capitals and hundreds of cities. 

With so many Spiritist books published, what do you think is the role of the specialised publications? 

I will start by mentioning Emmanuel, who said: “The biggest charity we can make for Spiritism is its own dissemination.” But the vast majority of Spiritists in Brazil is too focused on the social aspect of charity, not in the daunting task of disseminating the Teachings and supporting the Spiritist media. There are few specialised publications in Brazil and the publishing houses are struggling to keep afloat. Spiritist information will draw people to Spiritist institutions. I have many examples of people who joined Spiritist groups after reading the comforting pages of the newspaper Correio Espírita. I don’t want to be patronising, but I know Spiritists who attend groups regularly but have not been able to buy tickets to see the recent films and plays with Spiritist themes produced in Brazil. That would be an important way of supporting Spiritism. 

What is the profile of the Spiritist writers in most specialized publications? 

Most of them have already realised that Spiritism is dynamic. Allan Kardec used to write about the themes of his time in The Spiritist Review. His publication was a reflection of the thinking of a real genius, who used the magazine to provoke and encourage debate, that courted the reader not only through its clever titles, but also through a selection of high quality articles that would be the envy of any journalist now. I find very interesting articles in Brazilian publications. It is sad that many Spiritists stay away from newspapers and magazines and miss good opportunities to take issues relevant to our times for discussion within Spiritist Centres. 

How do your contributors work, how do you select their pieces? 

All journalists are volunteers. There is no interference from the newsroom. We just give guidelines on the issues we are interested in. There are articles sent to us that do not fit in our agenda and are therefore rejected.  

What are your views on the growth of the Internet? What does it mean for Spiritist media? 

Newsagents complain that the Internet has taken away a great deal of their customers. The sales of magazines and newspapers have declined, but that is evidence of a new model of communication. I believe we are going through a major development, with the growth of social media, which shorten distances and reduce time gaps. That is very good news for Spiritism, which has always been on the side of technological and scientific development. 

The Spiritist Movement, like any human organisation, will have its controversies and public disagreements. What is, in your opinion, the role of the Spiritist press in those controversies? 

Spiritist Movements are the result of the ideas of each person. Opinions may differ. The most important thing is to have Kardec as the reference of the codification of Spiritism. I believe the controversies exist due to the lack of theoretical knowledge, not because of the lack of theory. In other words, the ideas of Allan Kardec continue to be ignored by many. Many of our readers will not have studied Heaven and Hell. In my opinion, the role of the Spiritist media is to give continuity to the dissemination of the Spiritist Teachings. We avoid publishing vain discussions and debates in our paper. But we do not stay away from debates on themes like homosexuality, abortion, death penalty etc. Correio Espírita has always been there to inform the society through reason, rather than omission.