Deserto de notícias: análise teórica e estudo de caso em Salinas da Margarida - BA

Abstract

This undergraduate thesis presents a theoretical discussion and a case study on the topic of “News Deserts,” which refers to cities lacking local journalism, meaning they have no journalistic enterprises dedicated to covering and reporting news about their host municipality. The term emerged from research on the journalism crisis in the United States and has been developed in recent years, particularly by researcher Penelope Abernathy. Through six reports produced between 2016 and 2023, she developed a project that monitored the press desertification process in smaller U.S. cities and led to the creation of a database on the subject. This initiative inspired a similar project in Brazil, titled Atlas da Notícia, which also created a database and has sought to diagnose the same situation in the country, fostering studies on the topic. Based on this understanding, this thesis explores theoretical aspects of the importance of local journalism and proposes a case study in the city of Salinas da Margarida, located in the Recôncavo Baiano region, classified as a news desert by the Atlas. The study aims to analyze the population's informational habits regarding their own locality. Through the application of participant observation and structured interviews as research methods, it was possible to understand the importance of interpersonal communication, enhanced by social media; the political and economic interference in journalistic practices in a given region; and to recognize that, indeed, news-desert cities long for an independent press outlet that represents them.