When the lights go out in Brazil, the way TV networks tell the story has a lot to do with politics and who’s in charge. A new study from Michigan State University, led by Karina Ninni Ramos of the Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, reveals that relationships between presidents and the press strongly influence how the country’s biggest broadcasters cover energy shortages, blackouts, and rationing. 

The study appears in the journal Environmental Communication and was coauthored by Emilio Moran, a John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor, and three additional MSU researchers, including Michaela Shope, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences. The research examined decades of TV news coverage across three Brazilian presidencies, each characterized by different positions on the political spectrum: Fernando Henrique Cardoso (center-right), Dilma Rousseff (center-left), and Jair Bolsonaro (far-right). By analyzing how often presidents, experts, and everyday citizens were quoted in the stories analyzed, the team uncovered clear patterns linking politics to public messaging. 

The researchers were particularly interested in examining who gets to speak. “Analyzing the news, we realized that the coverage varied according to the relationship between the central government and mainstream broadcasters. We wanted to know to what extent this relationship influenced coverage,” summarized Ramos.