ABSTRACT
The history of Brazil’s local press is marked by a late start in the nineteenth century on the eve of the country’s independency from Portugal, and the continuous struggle of newspapers to become viable enterprises. In the early twentieth century, Brazilian newspapers were few and mostly aimed at the elites and concentrated in the wealthier Southeast and South regions. More recently, there have been opportunities for local newspapers to thrive all over the country. However, the combination of two ongoing crises – the digital revolution and a persistent economic downturn – have undermined the Brazilian press, hitting hardest small local outlets that lack editorial independence and effectiveness in covering civic issues. In this context, in 2017, Projor, an NGO dedicated to the advancement of Brazilian journalism, launched Atlas da Notícia (News Atlas) with the aim to map Brazil’s local press. Published in late 2018, the second edition revealed the absence of registered news outlets in 51 per cent of a total of 5,570 municipalities, home to 30 million Brazilians. Besides these so-called ‘news deserts’, another 30 per cent of municipalities were found to be ‘nearly-news deserts’, since they only have up to two news outlets publishing at least biweekly issues.
