By Travis Knoll
Advances on the digital revolution, attacks on journalists, and state-media conflict have marked journalism in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to UNESCO's 2014 report “World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development”. The document highlights state harassment of journalists, challenges reforming outdated media laws, media concentration, lack of journalistic resources and training, and drug-related journalistic deaths as some of the major problems facing journalists in the region.
The report starts off with a mixed assessment of the region as a whole writing that Latin America “continued to comply with the basic conditions that guarantee freedom of expression and media freedom, although…even where strong legislation has existed, implementation has remained a challenge.” The report also cites uneven application of Freedom of Information laws and a rural-urban divide in journalism quality as examples of how Latin America shows interesting trends which require greater consistency in application.
The UNESCO report also notes a gender gap in news management positions, citing a 2010 Global Media Monitoring Project report that women only account for 24% of the profession.
The report points, however, to several initial positives, citing repeals of defamation laws, growing print circulation in the region, growing access to digital media, and a trend towards “greater openness” in content filtering laws, as some hopeful developments.
Media concentration in Latin America is another highlight of the report. "In Mercosur (excluding Brazil), for example, Mastrini and Becerra found that there were four daily newspapers that comprised more than 60% of the market," the report says referring to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It also notes government attempts to regulate large media companies have pitted economic and business interests against strong executive branches. Governments use regulations to stifle free expression, and large media groups use their financial clout to buy off regulators.
The report points out that polarization affects the media’s credibility, stifling an “neutral watchdog” in favor of “pro” and “anti” government media. To counter this trend, organizations dedicated to investigative journalism and to protect freedom of expression have emerged in Latin America, such as the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI), the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIPER) in Chile, the MEPI Foundation in Mexico, and Guatemala’s Public Plaza. Besides public advocacy organizations, the study cites various journalism associations founded to bring awareness to difficulties the profession faces.
More positively, internet use increased from 24% of the population in 2007 to 43% in 2012. This increase correlates with an overall stable media business model and a 5% increase between 2010 and 2012 in Latin American advertising and a 38% growth in newspaper print advertising in particular. Traditional print advertising is accompanied by a 21% increase in internet advertising in 2012 although internet content demand still outstrips a bulky and insufficient system’s ability to provide.
Indeed, access to internet increases, but governments often try to control how and where data is accessed, stored, and collected. In 2013, Brazil proposed new data protection and storage laws in response to US whistleblower Edward Snowden’s NSA spying revelations, but also increased web privacy with the new Marco Civil law signed in April. New media law and transparency initiatives in Paraguay (approved in May) and Uruguay (pending) enjoy broad support from media watchdog groups, while other initiatives, such as Argentina’s 2009 media law remain controversial.
A steady rise in killings and lack of resources are concerns in the report. Only 60% of Latin American journalists seek professional development. Indeed, layoffs in Argentina, suits based on outdated and broad definitions of religious and personal defamation in Brazil and Ecuador, and journalistic kidnappings, killings, and abuses in Venezuela, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay represented flashpoints of 2013-2014. The report does note however that Mexico and Colombia have taken measures to address the growing violence and impunity with only moderate effectiveness.
The report does not strike an optimistic, but rather realistic tone citing greater self-censorship in relation growing political pressures and drug-related violence. It warns that the latter problem could only get worse.
“It remains to be seen whether efforts by drug cartels to actively influence media content by dictating propaganda and placing press releases in selected media outlets is an emerging trend in the region or not,” says the UNESCO.
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.
