Eli Vieira
Verified
As seen in:
Gazeta do Povo,
Substack,
Poder360,
Tribuna do Paraná,
France Soir,
Spiked,
Public (Newsletter)
Covers:
Science, health, politics
Jornalista e biólogo, autor de “Mais Iguais que Os Outros” (2025). Coautor das reportagens Twitter Files Brasil e Vaza Toga 2. Presidente da @FSU_BR.
Interview
What was your first job as a journalist?
Freelancer to bring scientific information on sensitive topics where diversity of thought was lacking.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
I guess so, when I was a child.
How is social media changing news?
It's making people consume more news than they used to. I'm not sure it increased polarisation.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
If William of Baskerville can be considered an investigative journalist, it's him.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
Journalism is a kind of inquiry, so to be a journalist means to probe the real world for truth and meaning, in an attention-grabbing way.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
PizzaRat was funny
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
E-mail but DMs are fine.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Microsoft Office, R Studio, Wordpress, AI.
What's your favorite social network?
Twitter for now, maybe Substack Notes soon.
Who do you wish followed you?
Robert Trivers.
Why did you become a journalist?
It came to me, I didn't seek it. It fell on my lap after years of blogging.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No, but I created a newspaper in middle school.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
I've debunked about 20 years of false statistics peddled by most Brazilian newspapers and even the Federal Supreme Court acritically.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Be relentless, curious, worldly, tolerant, honest and a poly-dilettante.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Any time.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
The pitch of writing about evidence that showed a major Brazilian health agency was wrong about a policy.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
I wasn't fond of covering presidential travels.
What's your favorite drink?
Alcohol-free: Coke Zero. Alcohol-laden: Moscow Mule, pale ales.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Walking in the park.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
I like The Free Press by Bari Weiss.
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
People think I'm conservative, I'm just a classical liberal.
Would you like to take the Muck Rack Interview?
Create a Muck Rack profile.