“We journalists have taken sides”
2019 Diciembre Nicaragua
Neither as citizens nor as journalists were we prepared for what we have gone through in Nicaragua since April 2018. The Nicaraguan media have developed...
Big data and politics: The power of algorithms
2017 Agosto Internacional
No more than 10% of the electorate in Latin America is informed.” That statement was made by the controversial Ecuadorean image adviser Jaime Durán...
How does one democratize communication in the post-truth era?
2017 Marzo Internacional
What are we talking about when we demand the democratization of communication and information? Do we only mean redistributing radio frequencies to guarantee...
Has the government’s communication strategy worked?
2016 Marzo Nicaragua
I’d like to start by commenting on the findings of some recent surveys in Nicaragua. While I’m quite skeptical of surveys, they are tools to be considered...
“The reforms favor the long-term absolute power of a person or party”
2013 Diciembre Nicaragua
Honorable members of the National Assembly Special Constitutional Committee to study, consult and issue its findings on constitutional aspects of the...
The good, the bad and the ugly of Ecuador’s new communication law
2013 Octubre América Latina
Who does the radio spectrum, the part of the electromagnetic spectrum carrying radio and television signals, belong to? Who owns the frequencies allocated...
Radio Progreso’s present for defending freedom of expresión
2011 Noviembre Honduras
Karla Rivas, news editor for Honduras’ Jesuit-founded Radio Progreso and communications coordinator for the Jesuits’ Reflection, Investigation and Comunication...
Seven Sound Barriers Broken In the Digital Radio Era
2010 Noviembre América Latina
As recently as ten years ago, we sent radio programs to our associated broadcasters from the regional office of the World Association of Community Radio...
Media, Candidates, Cases, Expectations…
2010 Abril Guatemala
When the scandal caused by murdered Rodrigo Rosenberg’s accusations against President Colom, his wife and his private secretary exploded in Guatemala...
A Decision of Principles and a Challenge to Ortega
2010 Enero Nicaragua
We have received a veritable avalanche of opinions in the great public debate unleashed by the dilemma facing the journalists of “Esta Semana” and “Esta...
Insecurity in Reality, the Media and Our Self-Image
2008 Agosto Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, as in so many other countries unfortunately, the security issue has become the raw material for prejudices and hasty conclusions. Phenomena...
The Struggle for a New Media Law: Who Owns the Airwaves?
2008 Junio México
Pablo González Casanova has said that the government is defending its agenda through the “expropriation of reason, rights and words.” He charges that...
Ten Reflections in Defense of Freedom of Expresión
2008 Enero Nicaragua
Quoting his father, Carlos Fernando began, “As long as there is a typewriter, a sheet of paper, a microphone, a public square, a balcony or any space...
Latin American Radio: Six Contributions to Development
2007 Noviembre América Latina
Radio always has been and continues to be the mass medium with the greatest coverage and acceptance in Latin America. Even in the Altiplano or the depths...
Partiocracy vs. the Media: An Important Battle
2007 Octubre México
Asked what Aristotle would think of most governments in today’s world, Argentine social scientist Atilio Borón replied that he would certainly not describe...
Media Positions on the CAFTA Referéndum
2007 Septiembre Costa Rica
The first referendum in Costa Rica’s history will be held on October 7 to decide whether or not to approve the Central American Free Trade Agreement...
“Gerardo Miranda And We the Thieves”
2007 Junio Nicaragua
Carlos Fernando Chamorro and the team of the Esta Semana current affairs television program have earned a place in the history of the fight against...
Media Content as Social Property
2007 Junio América Latina
Who owns the rainbow? Does someone have title to the property over the oceans, which takes up most of the planet’s surface? What would you think if...
Needed Reflections on the New Government’s Communication Policy
2007 Marzo Nicaragua
The government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has a golden opportunity in the communications field, as it does in so many other areas, to lay the...
Chakana Guides for Community Radio
2007 Febrero América Latina
The Aymara call it Pusi Wara, four stars, but it’s more commonly called Chakana, which means the stair way, the bridge to the higher world. People...
Building Citizenship: A Challenge for Radio
2005 Julio América Latina
It was in London during a meeting of AMARC’s inter-national administrative council that I openly used the term “citizens’ radio” for the first time....
Digital Time in the National Culture: Underdevelopment.com.ni
2002 Junio Nicaragua
The first computers—enormous machines programmed by a series of perforated cards—arrived in Nicaragua at the end of the 1960s. Internet followed at the...
The Central American Media’s Turn On the Democratization Agenda
2001 Julio Centroamérica
The peace and demilitarization processes of the past 12 years in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala have changed the political face of Central America....
Let People’s Voices Be Heard In the New Millennium
1999 Diciembre América Latina
When we inaugurated Radio Enriquillo in southeastern Dominican Republic, we wanted to open its microphones to all voices. From the first day of transmission,...
The Rights and Duties of Community Radio
1998 Octubre América Latina
1. Communication is a universal and fundamental human right. The word brings us closer together, opens us up to each other, develops us, makes us better...
Community Radios: Freedom of Antenna!
1998 Febrero América Latina
WHEN YOUNG JOURNALISTS INTERVIEW ME, THEY NEVER FAIL TO ASK A KEY QUESTION: "AND RADIO... DOES IT STILL HAVE A FUTURE? How does it defend itself against...
For an Agrarian Reform Of the Air Waves
1996 Mayo América Latina
A Great Festival of Latin American and Caribbean Grass roots and Community Television and Radio was celebrated in Quito, Ecuador, on November 20 24,...
The Media: Where Cuba Blockades Itself
1994 Noviembre Cuba
In August, the waters of the Florida Strait teemed with Cuban rafts and wire services teemed with interpretations of what was happening. Once again,...
Nicaragua's New Media Law: Freedom and Social Responsibility
1989 Julio Nicaragua
"This [media law] is technically superior to earlier laws. It broadens journalistic practice, and grants rights that did not exist before."
—Edwin...
La Prensa Continues To Amaze Us
1989 Abril Nicaragua
Americas Watch described it in a 1988 report as "outstripping what can be found in the sensational weeklies at supermarket check-out counters in the...
Town Hall Forums: Another Step toward a Constitution
1986 Agosto Nicaragua
"My children shed their blood for the liberation of Nicaragua, and when they fell in battle there was a gaping hole inside me and the fire in my heart...
La Prensa: Post-Mortem on a Suicide
1986 Agosto Nicaragua
US Congressional debate on the $100 million contra war appropriation was in full swing last April when Jaime Chamorro, editor of the Nicaraguan...