Beltranianas V. III

What began as the realization of a dream, with the creation of a Journalism course in Pernambuco in the second half of the twentieth century, grew to such proportions that it is impossible to think about journalism education without the name Luiz Beltrão coming to mind. Part of his important contribution to the educational dimension of journalism is found in this classic and, at the same time, contemporary work, until now unpublished in Brazil.

Luiz Beltrão’s innovative spirit, and the way he presented the didactics of Journalism to society, was the central theme of the Course on Methodology for Teaching Newspaper Technique, organized by CIESPAL — the International Center for Higher Studies in Journalism for Latin America — and taught by him in Quito, Ecuador, in September 1963, now presented in Portuguese in book form.

In this work, presented in ten chapters, Beltrão begins with the teaching of newspaper technique at the university level and guides us through curriculum, methods, and didactic processes, matters that are certainly a concern for all professors in Journalism programs. At a time when the regulation of the profession and journalism education are under discussion, the presentation and critique of learning methods are of great relevance, especially for academia, but also for society as a whole.

In the decades following the preparation of the manuscript that gave rise to this book, there were many transformations in terms of the media and supports used in journalistic production. However, access to his writings is never belated and, even though some of us have been on the path of teaching for some time, in the face of this great lesson, it is understandable that we feel like apprentices, students of Luiz Beltrão.

I am pleased to have the opportunity, based on the methodological reflections presented by the master, to rethink once again the learning process in journalism education — something that, I believe, all professors must do continuously in pursuit of improving the quality of programs, which have been the object of criticism, much of it unfounded, whenever the need for an undergraduate degree in Journalism is discussed.

This is certainly a reference work for the field of Communication and its interfaces with Education, both for addressing the teaching of Journalism and for the continuing relevance of the studies of this pioneer, which have inspired various research groups in Brazil and abroad.

Mirna Tonus
Journalist and Master in Education from the Methodist University of Piracicaba (UNIMEP). PhD in Multimedia from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). Professor and researcher in the Social Communication program, Journalism track, at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU). President of the National Forum of Journalism Professors (FNPJ), 2012–2016 administration.