On-the-Ground Connections: Independent Journalism and Traditional Coastal Communities in Recife, Brazil

Hegemonic media often respond to political and economic constraints with narrow socio-environmental frames that overlook communities most exposed to environmental harm. This paper examines how independent professional outlets in Recife, Brazil – Agência de Notícias das Favelas, Alma Preta, Brasil de Fato Pernambuco, and Marco Zero Conteúdo – offer alternative frameworks based on environmental justice and on-the-ground connections with traditional coastal communities. We combine Critical Discourse Analysis of 34 news items on Recife’s coastal struggles (2020–June 2023) with semi-structured interviews conducted with eight journalists and editors who produced these stories. The analysis explores how they position themselves in relation to hegemonic media, negotiate boundaries between journalism and activism, and prioritize community voices, lived experience, and field reporting. We show that these practices can strengthen alliances among communities, social movements, and civil-society actors, while also exposing structural drivers of injustice. At the same time, interviewees underscore persistent financial and structural constraints that limit their capacity to sustain this work and influence public debate.