tandfonline.com – Radio as a Tool of Education and Resistance in Brazilian Communities during the Pandemic

Abstract

This dispatch was written in June 2020, as Brazil’s health crisis reached its first peak, when the country had the second-highest COVID-19 death toll in the world while facing major political crises. The national administration of President Jair Bolsonaro has failed to provide clear guidance for the population on how to act in times of a crisis; beyond that, he has exacerbated the health crisis by spreading false or misleading information and hiding official numbers and data. Digital methods of communication have attenuated that problem. This dispatch discusses the role of the radio as an active tool of resistance to Bolsonaro’s anti-knowledge regime and as a response to digital inequities. Although the radio is considered a technology of the past, it currently provides Brazilians with vital information and serves them as a tool for self-empowerment and resistance during the COVID pandemic.