The Colombian Federation of Journalists (FECOLPER) called the closure of the newspaper El Liberal in the city of Popayán, Cauca on Saturday, Dec. 15, a blow to freedom of expression. The loss of the newspaper will leave the region hardest hit by unemployment, poverty and armed conflict without a newspaper, according to a statement from the organization.
"Today, we call on the editors of the publication to take steps to bring back El Liberal," said FECOLPER President Adriana Hurtado.
Cauca is one of the departments with the highest level of instability in Colombia. With three active FARC fronts operating in the department, Cauca suffered the most attacks from the guerrillas in 2011. The department also struggles with constant confrontations between indigenous communities and the police.
Considering these factors, the closure of the 74 year-old El Liberal, the only newspaper in the region, has been difficult for the community to accept, reported the newspaper El Tiempo.
According to the editorial "Una despedida," (Goodbye) published by the publication on its last day of circulation, financial troubles doomed the newspaper:
"Today, El Liberal's newsroom has to report the end of an era for the business. Financial pressures that accumulated over years, insufficient response from our advertisers and dwindling sales become obstacles to keeping this project afloat. So it was our decision to give the newspaper a dignified goodbye in today's Saturday edition. We say goodbye sadly but at the same time proud of our work and mission during these last 74 years in the city and the department."
Last March, the possibility of closing the newspaper was announced by Grupo Galvis, the principal shareholder and owner of seven other newspapers in the country, announced that it would not provide more resources for the newspaper's operation after "27 years of loses." However, the group changed to the format and redesigned the newspaper along with a sale of shares to try to keep the publication alive.
Laurentino Tello, news editor for the newspaper for the last five years, said the efforts made employees believe El Liberal would survive 2012, "but the news was biting. We are going on something called 'collective vacation' and the order was given for us to pick up our stuff, that we turn in the desks, computers and we're giving it a worthy goodbye," he told the newspaper El Heraldo.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
