Estadao Shows Readers How Much Corruption Costs the Brazilian People

May. 06, 2017

O Estadao de Sao Paulo, one of Brazil’s most-read newspapers, and its creative agency, FCB Brasil, launched an interactive digital platform, The Corruption Converter. The Converter shows exactly how much corruption costs the Brazilian people. The tool allows users to calculate the benefits and services that could have been provided with the funds had they not been diverted because of corruption. The tool automatically converts the amounts reported in articles about corruption into objects, such as ambulances, vaccines, school meals and medication.

For example: The tool shows users that R$316 million of diverted funds could have purchased 2,394,686 doses of the H1N1 vaccine, 15,800 ambulances or 142,342,342 school lunches. To complement this information, next to the amounts, The Corruption Converter shows news stories from the paper’s website about situations where this money could have made a difference and improved people’s lives.

The code written into the Estadao portal monitors users on the website and “detects” when they are reading articles containing words related to corruption and politics, as well as figures in Reals (R$). If the article contains both of these types of words and figures, it will be deemed “eligible,” prompting the portal to highlight all of the relevant figures. As a user hovers the cursor or swipes a finger (in the mobile version) over the numbers, The Corruption Converter tool pops up, listing items, goods or improvements that could have been purchased with the amount in question.

The tool is the first of its kind, and aims to make the numbers associated with corruption tangible, and to show the scope of that corruption.

Marcelo Moraes, marketing and advertising director at Estadao said:

“The goal is to help Brazilians understand how this money could have impacted their lives. It’s a new and provocative way of providing information. We are using technology and innovation to go beyond news.”