Text: Rebeca Fonseca
Art: Joyce Tenório
Originally published in Jornal da USP on 5/2/2023

This week, two programs debut on USP Radio. This Thursday, 4, at noon, the first episode of Culture na USP, from the Pró-Reitoria de Cultura e Extensão Universitária (PRCEU) (PRCEU), will air. The next day, Friday, the 5th, at 5 pm, it will be the turn of Universo das Emissoras Públicas to make its first broadcast.

Marli Quadros Leite – Personal Archive

 “The Pro-Rectory of Culture and University Extension and USP are industries of culture, art, and extension production and we need a robust channel to publicize this”, comments Professor Marli Quadros Leite, Pro-Rector of Culture and University Extension at USP, on the debut of Culture at USP. Every Thursday, live theater and music performances, film screenings, and exhibitions promoted by the University will be suggested to the listener.

Elcio Silva – Photo: Personal Archive

In the Rádio USP Via Sampa program, which ended in 2020, the University’s cultural attractions were promoted in the Caminhos da Cultura. The proposal for the new PRCEU program is based on this previous experience. “The idea is to bring people closer to USP’s cultural production. The population does not always take advantage of this content, because they cannot or because they do not know that it is being produced “, says presenter Elcio Silva.

In addition to the cultural agenda, the program will have reports and interviews with artists and other people involved in the production of events. “We identified that the public is very interested in knowing more, not only the agenda, with date, time and place but listening to people, who are orchestra conductors, exhibition curators, people who make the program”, adds Michel Sitnik, producer of the program.

The special guest of the first episode will be the Pro-Rector Marli. She will talk to the listener to give an overview of the culture at the University and talk about the projects and prospects for the future of the program. In addition, the program prepared by PRCEU with the main highlights of USP’s cultural bodies and institutes will also be shared.

Michel Sitnik – Photo: Reproduction/IEA-USP

The Cultura na USP plans to present the different activities that the University promotes to different audiences. “Radio is an important instrument for the democratization of this type of information because it is a vehicle that speaks to everyone. We bet a lot on Rádio USP to reach people outside the University,” says Sitnik.

Public Broadcasters

Broadcasters like Rádio USP will be the subject of the program Universo das Emissoras Públicas.  The presenter Gislene Nogueira is a PhD student in Communication Sciences at the Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA) of USP. Her thesis is about public broadcasters and the construction of a democratic public sphere. Part of this research will be part of the program that will be aired every two weeks, on Fridays.

Gislene explains that this vehicle model meets the demands of the population. “Public radio and television stations do not have a titular owner. They have management that provides a service to the public, like the BBC in the UK, which belongs to the citizens,” says the presenter.

According to Gislene, public broadcasters exist to ensure space for the plurality of voices in society and to fulfill the right to information. “Truly public companies have mechanisms to ensure public participation in their editorial and administrative decisions,” she says. In an ideal scenario, they act autonomously and do not suffer government interference.

The presenter anticipates that the debut program will be more conceptual. The conversation will initially be about the definition of a public broadcaster and, in the next episodes, broadcasters from different countries will be approached, such as NPR, from the United States, and ARD, from Germany. “The idea is to invite spokespersons from broadcasters so that they can tell their experience, how they consolidated, how they make the public participate, and how they are financed”, emphasizes Gislene.

Gislaine Nogueira – Photo: Personal archive

For the presenter, the concept of public broadcasters is little known, and, with the program, listeners will be able to learn about their role and how they should act in society. “We can get to know and share public communication experiences so that the public is able to evaluate, understand and contribute to a debate about the Brazilian communication company and participate in its construction,” says Gislene.

 

No Ar

The program Cultura na USP will air every Thursday at 12 pm, starting this Thursday, the 4th. The program Universo das Emissoras Públicas will be aired every two weeks, on Fridays, at 5 pm, starting on the 5th. Both on Rádio USP in São Paulo (93.7 MHz) and Ribeirão Preto (107.9 MHz).

Translated by: Lara Yoshime Shizuko Fukushima