IstoÉ

The IstoÉ magazine was founded in may 1976, by Encontro Editorial Ltda., from a partnership between Domingo Azugaray and Mino Carta. Initially, the magazine had a monthly periodicity, but in the following year the varieties magazine became a weekly publication, approaching mainly political subjects, in addition to economy, culture, science, behavior, sports, among others. It came to light in a moment of the Military Dictatorship (1964-1985) in which the censorship exercised on communication outlets was less intense than in the prior decade.

At this point, political coverage was critical of the military regimen, though in a cautious way. Carta and Azugaray brought important journalists and intellectuals to the magazine, such as Raimundo Faoro, Vilas Boas Correia, Francisco Weffort, Cláudio Abramo, Bolívar Lamounier, Henfil, Millôr Fernandes, Luís Fernando Veríssimo, Elio Gaspari, Marcos Sá Correia, Plínio Marcos, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Edmar Bacha, Carlos Guilherme Mota, Antônio Calado, Maurício Kubrusly, Clóvis Rossi, Maria Vitória Benevides, Paulo Caruso, Pietro Maria Bardi, Ferreira Gullar, Luís Gonzaga Belluzzo, Fernando Pedreira, Carlos Castelo Branco and Zuenir Ventura.

In 1980, because of its debts the magazine was given to Unibanco and was then run by Fernando Moreira Salles (the bank owner’s son). Mino Carta left the editorial direction of the magazine (1981) and became director of Senhor, that remained under Três Publisher. He was replaced by Tão Gomes Pinto. In January 1984, the magazine was once again sold, this time to Luís Fernando Levy, owner of the Gazeta Mercantil newspaper, and the editorial direction was handed to Mílton Coelho da Graça, who kept defending the campaign for direct elections and the congregation of a National Constituent Assembly. In 1985, however, the magazine started to support indirect elections as a transition between the dictatorship and the democratic government and even supported the beginning of José Sarney’s government, criticizing him only after his first year in charge.

In 1988, Domingo Azugaray manages to buy the magazine again, promoting the fusion between the magazines IstoÉ and Senhor under the title IstoÉ Senhor, that would become only IstoÉ again in 1992. The magazine was once again run by Mino Carta. In the 1989 elections, the magazine did not explicitly supported an of the candidates, but criticized the campaign promoted by Fernando Collor de Melo against Lula, the labor’s party candidate (PT).

While the dictatorship and the early process of re-democratization lasted, Mino Carta and Domingo Alzugaray shared certain editorial views, but this landscape started to change from 1993 on, when their political and economical divergences became clear. Mino, along with Raimundo Faoro, left IstoÉ in 1993 and founded Carta Capital in 1994, with a leftist editorial profile. IstoÉ was again run by Tão Gomes Pinto, defending the neo-liberal policies of Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s government, while Carta Capital defended the policies of the labor’s party.

In April 1996, Tão Gomes Pinto left the direction of the magazine, being replaced by the journalist and photographer Hélio Campos Mello, who remained in the position of director until February 2006, when he left the publisher and founded the Brasileiros magazine. The magazine is currently run by Carlos José Marques. One of the three biggest weekly magazines in Brazil, besides Veja (Abril Group) and Época (Globo Group), IstoÉ, just like other magazines from its group faces financial difficulties and, according to information from the press, looks for a buyer.

Besides Veja (Grupo Abril) and Época (Grupo Globo), IstoÉ is one of the three largest weekly magazines. Currently, just like some of the other magazines from its group, it faces financial difficulties and, according to information circulating in the press, is searching for a buyer.