Media Public Value and Informative Voids: The Impact of Technological Changes in Brazil’s EBC

Despite the improvements in the technical quality of broadcasting in Brazilian radio stations, especially due to the transition from amplitude modulation (AM) to frequency modulation (FM) and the use of digital technology, the country is still an information desert in a large percentage of its regions. In 2022, the Radio Panorama showed that in the country there were “about four thousand FM stations, 1.7 thousand in AM and another four thousand are community radio stations” using Hertz waves (Agência Brazil, Ministério das Comunicações simplificará regras para radiodifusão. https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2022-09/ministerio-das-comunicacoes-simplificara-regras-para-radiodifusao , 2022). Of the more than ten thousand stations registered in Brazil, 6700—around 65%—also use the Internet to broadcast their programmes (Radios.com.br, Brasil – Estatística Rádios AM/FM mais ouvidas em Setembro/2023. https://www.radios.com.br/estatistica/am-fm/2023/9?pais=33 , 2023). Despite these figures, around 46% of Brazilian municipalities (2562 cities) still live without any media in their territory. In this scenario, it is necessary to reflect on the importance of the Brazilian Communications Company (EBC), through its eight stations that use AM, FM, medium waves (OM) and short waves (OC), in maintaining the right of Brazilians to information, which should be the responsibility of the Public Service Media (PSM). Looking at the current structure of these radio stations, which are linked to the federal government, it’s possible to see an information desert in the different regions of the country, since they are concentrated in only 6 of the 26 states, in addition to the Federal District, and have a limited broadcasting area. This chapter therefore analyses how technological changes affect the PSM of EBC, its public value and its performance in the news desert that affects a large part of Brazil.