Radio stations & TV stations use public airwaves and actually (used to, not sure now) had to prove they were acting in the public interest to keep their licenses. Doing public announcements were one way they handled that function.
You were able to access those news for free. Without any account. Once you had a radio or a tv, it was free and accessible for everyone.
Not the same for Facebook or Twitter. Even if technically free, you can be banned, or have your account deactivated because you didn’t give away your phone number as “security measure”.
