Four years after the appointment of Mariana Iglesias at the Argentine newspaper Clarín, gender editors are promoting changes in news coverage, working to consolidate their positions and facing unprecedented online violence. LatAm Journalism Review spoke with gender editors in four countries to understand the current status of these professionals in the region.
A collection of studies on the coverage of violence against women in the Global South found advances in Argentina and Mexico, while in Brazil race and class biases stood out. The volume's co-editor told LJR she hopes the work will highlight how journalistic coverage is connected to this huge systemic global problem.
Seven podcast festivals comprise the Ibero-American Circuit of Podcast Festivals (CIFESPOD, by its Spanish acronym). The circuit’s goals include gaining recognition of podcasting as a cultural industry, joining forces for fundraising, creating a Latin American award for best podcast, and strengthening the production of narrative journalism pieces in audio.
Several decades have passed since the last dictatorial regimes were established in the Southern Cone of Latin America. Human rights defenders and a journalist talk about the challenges of reporting on the recent past, and why it is important to continue doing so.
Representatives of Radio Ambulante, Dementes, Revista Late, Dudas Media, and Convoy Network spoke at the Estación Podcast festival about aspects of sound content creation in Latin America. These include financing methods, the value of catering to a defined audience and the importance of protecting the intellectual property of productions in the face of streaming platforms.
"Today the quality of information is a collective endeavor among sources, readers, informants, and journalists," said media researcher Adriana Amado. LatAm Journalism Review interviewed her about her book "Journalism metaphors: Mutations and challenges," an investigation and reframing of concepts like "mutant journalism" and "gamer culture."
While coverage of femicides focuses on the details of the crimes and presents them as "isolated cases," the majority of the Argentine public wants more focus on preventing gender-based violence and more empathy for the victims, points out the study "Femicidios en los medios y en la opinión pública" ("Femicides in the media and public opinion").
Faced with an increase in violence against the press in Latin America, two South American journalists are promoting a Model Law for the protection of journalists that could be applied worldwide. Chile is the country that has made the most progress in this regard. Paraguay, Mexico and Brazil follow.
Journalists in Latin America have found in true crime podcasts an ideal platform for bringing investigative reporting on real crime to new audiences. However, journalists still face major challenges in terms of distribution and monetization.
Proyecto Desclasificados, in Argentina, created a public and easily accessible database of declassified U.S. government documents related to Argentina, while Archivero, in Mexico, works against the authorities' refusal to allow access to documents classified as "state secrets" or "national security."