How can you explain the process of transformation of public policies of communication promoted by the initiatives of civil society in Latin American countries in recent years?
“We are going to make a confession: in Colombia, journalists publish much less than what they know.” Thus begins the promotion video of the newly-formed network of journalists called The League Against Silence, which, through its first activity, is seeking resources to cover the most self-censored issues in the country.
Journalist Thiago Antunes was working in the newsroom of newspaper O Dia on Nov. 28, 2015 when news broke at dawn: 111 shots from rifles and pistols were fired by the military police at five youths in the Lagartixa favela in Costa Barros, a poor neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro’s northern zone.
It consists of three floors and 300 square meters on a tree-lined street in Botafogo, in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro. A noble space, inside and out, dedicated to journalism. The facade is old, well-maintained, with pink-painted walls and white details. On the inside, there are high ceilings adorned by a sumptuous glass chandelier. The dark wood floors and windows, as well as the staircase, give off a warm air.
Major U.S. newspaper, The New York Times, collaborated with award-winning Salvadoran investigative news site El Faro to publish a report about the gangs of El Salvador.
Award-winning podcast Radio Ambulante, which uses audio storytelling to share reports and anecdotes from Spanish-speakers across the Americas, has been picked up by non-profit media organization NPR as the U.S. public radio network’s first Spanish-language podcast.
She was born 38 years ago in Argentina and is the mother of 5-year-old twins Ignacio and Nahuel and 7-month-old Lautaro. She lives in the province of San Martín, Buenos Aires.
A new study on how young people in Argentina consume news reveals that this process is done haphazardly, mainly through cell phones, during free time and while immersed in the world of social networks. The consumption of news is “incidental” and old habits of searching for news on the computer, the television or print are being left behind.
Rodolfo Romero is 27 years-old. He received money from the government to finance a news site. It was going to be called Cuba accuses (Cuba acusa) but he did not like the belligerent tone of the name, so he decided to call it Cuba denounces (Cuba denuncia) only to discover that was the name of a site created by exiled Cuban dissidents. Therefore, Romero edits the site Pensar en Cuba (Thinking of Cuba) along with a team that depends on the Ministry of Culture. Through it, the various policies of the United States concerning Cuba in the last 50 years are denounced.
In the midst of a tense social climate and reports of attacks on the press, social media users in Venezuela are spreading the hashtag #ExpresiónSinOpresión (#ExpressionWithoutOppression) to talk about the importance of freedom of expression in the country.