With no local press, a Brazilian town relies on word-of-mouth to inform people
Brazil has 2,712 cities that are news deserts, according to study
Originally published on Global Voices
Pirapora do Bom Jesus is a religious site and has 18,000 residents. Photo by Léu Britto/Agência Mural, used with permission
This story was written by Sarah Fernandes, Jacqueline Maria da Silva and Arthur Ferreira and was originally published on June 4, 2024, on the Agência Mural website. An edited version is republished on Global Voices under a partnership agreement.
In Pirapora do Bom Jesus, São Paulo state, information is mainly shared by word-of-mouth. Cars with loudspeakers, WhatsApp groups, the local authorities’ website, social media accounts, and church announcements are the means by which news and announcements are spread to the 18.370 residents, according to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
Imagine living in a town without access to reliable information about public administration. How would you know where public money is going or what mayors and councillors are doing?
These are the doubts of 26.7 million Brazilians in almost half (48.7 percent) of the municipalities considered news deserts by the Atlas of News (Atlas da Notícia), a study that evaluates press coverage over a given area. There are 2,712 cities in this situation. In total, Brazil has 5,565 municipalities.
A place is called a news desert when it lacks independent local journalism, which follows and monitors life in the city — essential features of the press in a democracy.
Pirapora do Bom Jesus, one of the poorest municipalities in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, appears in the study. Agência Mural's team spent five days there to understand how information gets around in a place like that.
Historic center of Pirapora do Bom Jesus. Photo by Léu Britto/Agência Mural, used with permission
“It's hard to stay informed because the town doesn't have its own newspaper. If you don’t attend church or the sessions of the City Council, you are not informed. We only have access to information through the church and the City Hall,” said Antonio Juarez de Oliveira, a local businessman.
Pirapora do Bom Jesus was founded after reports of miracles; it became a religious destination and has a historical and cultural heritage. In 1725, an image of Bom Jesus was found in a river in the region by two enslaved people. This became a local patron saint, but the municipality would only become an independent entity in 1959.
Today, the city still faces socio-economic challenges, with a low rate of formal employment and its sanctuaries in need of restoration.
In addition to informal sources of information, such as WhatsApp, direct contact with acquaintances, or notices in churches, contact channels with councillors serve as a means for complaints and investigations.
There is only one woman among the nine councillors on the City Council. In opposition to Mayor Dany Wilian Floresti (PSD) are Helton Bananinha (Republicans), Elias Araújo (Republicans) and Roge Baudichon (Union), pre-candidate for vice mayor in the 2024 elections and known as the “inspector of the people.”
With his “mobile cabinet,” he travels around the city recording videos denouncing the lack of medicine and problems with sanitation and medical care, as well as publicizing his own social activities.
Councillors of Pirapora do Bom Jesus City Council. Photo by Léu Britto/Agência Mural, used with permission
“We hear everything in the town from the mouth of a councillor. We don't get news that isn't from a politician,” lamented Jeanderson Gomes dos Santos, a construction worker and resident of the Parque Payol neighborhood, the most populous in Pirapora.
This annoys a large part of the population. Designer and resident Mário Rodrigues said, “I notice that in neighboring cities people have a more active voice to charge public management; I think because they have more access to information.”
Dubes Sônego, a researcher with the Atlas, points out that when people live in an information desert, they start to give up on searching for “factual truth” and opt for trusting what they see on social media.
“You don't have a source of journalistic information distinguishing between what is fact and what is opinion, and this weakens the town and favors the spread of fake news,” he explained.
A news desert during elections
When one asks about journalism in Pirapora, one of the outlets people mention is Radio Pirapora FM, a community radio.
By law, as explained by Agert (Association of Radio and TV Broadcasters from Rio Grande do Sul), this type of service can only be run by “non-profit community associations and foundations, based in the locality.” The radios “must have a pluralistic program, without any type of censorship, and must be open to the voices of all the residents in the region served.”
Despite this, in Pirapora, the local broadcaster seems to lack impartiality and is under the name of an association chaired by the mother of a former mayor, who governed the city for two terms.
He is Gregório Maglio (MDB), a politician who intends to run for the position again this year. Maglio has a radio show on which he interviews allies who intend to run for public office. Despite this, he claims that the show is a chat about the day-to-day life of the city.
Senhor Bom Jesus de Pirapora sanctuary. Photo by Léu Britto/Agência Mural, used with permission.
A divided town
Pirapora is a small town, but it is divided. The residents of Parque Payol, on the outskirts, face more difficulties in getting information than those in other neighborhoods. They often have to go to the town centre, four kilometers away, to confirm information about vaccination campaigns or extracurricular activities for children.
Public transport is limited to intercity bus lines, which connect Pirapora to other towns, and only one line goes through Payol. The neighborhood has a busy local commerce, the largest number of voters, and also sees the main socio-economic problems.
“My daughter took part in Projovem (National Youth Inclusion Program), got her first job, studied, and is now in Portugal,” explained Maria de Fátima, a resident of the central neighborhood area.
On the other hand, Josiane Rocha dos Santos, a resident of Payol, lamented: “My son did not enroll in the program because the spots ran out before I knew they were available.”
This discrepancy in access to information is no exception in a news desert. There are also other difficulties. The government has an obligation to ensure transparency, in accordance with the Access to Information Act. In Pirapora, both the transparency portal of the City Hall and the City Council have shortcomings.
Up to the publication of this article, the most recent financial statements and fiscal management reports available were from 2022, and the last balance sheet for the executive available for public consultation on the website was from 2018.
A saint in the newspaper
Despite having no local newspaper, Pirapora's history has been influenced by journalism. In 1884, a São Paulo newspaper reported on the image of Bom Jesus found there and that it performed miracles, transforming the town into one of the state's main religious sites.
This attracted crowds and turned the city into a meeting point for samba communities, jongo (African dance) and drumming, giving the area the status of the cradle of Paulista samba.
“It is the reason that this place exists and stopped being a farm, which was acquired by Santana de Parnaíba city, to become the town we have today,” said Father Marcelo Magalhães, the rector of the sanctuary of Senhor Do Bom Jesus De Pirapora.
Since the 1980s, tourism has decreased. Currently, only 15.52 percent of residents have formal employment. The sanctuary's administration works to raise funds and restore the site and its works of art. The newspaper O Anhanguera, of nearby Santana do Parnaíba, essentially covers Pirapora.
“It is up to us to follow councillors to know about the city's problems and what is being done. Local authorities do not inform us about everything that happens,” complained Jeanderson Gomes dos Santos.
Eugênio Bucci, a professor at ECA-USP (School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo), explained that journalism can be a step towards resolving problems, but it does not completely solve them.
“Journalism does not govern, it does not legislate, it does not make judgements, it does not exercise judicial power. It is just a social institution that contributes to mediating public debate and checking power,” he said. “If journalism provides quality information, it is already helping a lot.”