Nieman Lab.
Predictions for
Journalism, 2024.
In 2022, Latin America was the most dangerous region in the world to practice journalism. According to different NGO data, between 30 and 42 journalists were killed in that year. Although there are still no official figures for 2023, the picture is not very different: UNESCO states that 69 journalists from ten countries were killed in the region between January 2022 and July 2023. More than in Ukraine or Syria, countries at war.
The problem is not only the murders: Journalists suffer from non-lethal violence, threats, job insecurity, imprisonment, and being forced to live in exile. Countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, or Cuba are black holes for freedom of speech due to their authoritarian regimes, which make it almost impossible to practice journalism. In other countries, such as Brazil, Colombia, or Peru, in addition to threats to journalists who cover corruption and organized crime, those who report about indigenous communities, environmental issues, or migration also suffer violence.
The lack of successful business models in the region has also made journalists precarious. They face poor salaries, no employment benefits, and very little protection from their media outlets in order to be able to carry out risky coverage.
Despite all that (or perhaps because of it), Latin America continues to produce great investigative journalism and media outlets that seek to be a watchdog of power and explain complex processes (from the violence of organized crime to the companies that plunder the environment) to connect with an audience in need of verified, credible, and contextualized information.
Against all odds, media outlets have been born and grown mostly thanks to the titanic efforts of journalists who have had, with limited resources and under violent circumstances, had to become entrepreneurs while dealing with autocratic governments and looking for ways to obtain funds.
In Mexico, media outlets and journalistic cooperatives such as Quinto Elemento Lab, A dónde van los desaparecidos or Alianza de Medios are trying to make a difference. In Brazil, there is Repórter and Agência Pública.
In Central America, a very violent area for journalists, there are media outlets that are staying afloat. In El Salvador, Focos, Factum, and El Faro are doing so. In Nicaragua, where more than 250 journalists live in exile because of Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship, Divergentes continues to report. The same happens with ContraCorriente in Honduras and Redacción Regional, which agglomerates media outlets from all over the region.
Cuba is another dictatorship where being a journalist is almost impossible, but they continue to do it at El estornudo and Periodismo de barrio. In Colombia, the historical journalistic work is maintained by Mutante, Cuestión Pública, Cerosetenta, and Vorágine.
In Venezuela, there is El Bus TV, whose journalists get on buses to do a live newscast or place papers in the streets to inform Venezuelans what their government does not want them to know. The millions of Venezuelan exiles in other countries have also managed to generate media outlets such as Cápsula Migrante, which supports Venezuelan migrants in Peru to obtain basic necessary information, through WhatsApp groups and YouTube.
Last but not least, El hilo, El Surti (Paraguay), GK and Plan V (Ecuador), Ojo Público (Peru), and Muy Waso (Bolivia) are creating very interesting and courageous work that has had an impact on the local audiences.
This is not a definitive list. Undoubtedly, there are many other media outlets that, despite all the circumstances, seek to continue reporting in one of the most dangerous areas for the practice of journalism. These media outlets and their journalistic team are proof that Latin America journalists will continue to seek to confront power and investigate the serious problems of the region in 2024.
Mael Vallejo is vice president of content at Capital Digital (Mexico).
In 2022, Latin America was the most dangerous region in the world to practice journalism. According to different NGO data, between 30 and 42 journalists were killed in that year. Although there are still no official figures for 2023, the picture is not very different: UNESCO states that 69 journalists from ten countries were killed in the region between January 2022 and July 2023. More than in Ukraine or Syria, countries at war.
The problem is not only the murders: Journalists suffer from non-lethal violence, threats, job insecurity, imprisonment, and being forced to live in exile. Countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, or Cuba are black holes for freedom of speech due to their authoritarian regimes, which make it almost impossible to practice journalism. In other countries, such as Brazil, Colombia, or Peru, in addition to threats to journalists who cover corruption and organized crime, those who report about indigenous communities, environmental issues, or migration also suffer violence.
The lack of successful business models in the region has also made journalists precarious. They face poor salaries, no employment benefits, and very little protection from their media outlets in order to be able to carry out risky coverage.
Despite all that (or perhaps because of it), Latin America continues to produce great investigative journalism and media outlets that seek to be a watchdog of power and explain complex processes (from the violence of organized crime to the companies that plunder the environment) to connect with an audience in need of verified, credible, and contextualized information.
Against all odds, media outlets have been born and grown mostly thanks to the titanic efforts of journalists who have had, with limited resources and under violent circumstances, had to become entrepreneurs while dealing with autocratic governments and looking for ways to obtain funds.
In Mexico, media outlets and journalistic cooperatives such as Quinto Elemento Lab, A dónde van los desaparecidos or Alianza de Medios are trying to make a difference. In Brazil, there is Repórter and Agência Pública.
In Central America, a very violent area for journalists, there are media outlets that are staying afloat. In El Salvador, Focos, Factum, and El Faro are doing so. In Nicaragua, where more than 250 journalists live in exile because of Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship, Divergentes continues to report. The same happens with ContraCorriente in Honduras and Redacción Regional, which agglomerates media outlets from all over the region.
Cuba is another dictatorship where being a journalist is almost impossible, but they continue to do it at El estornudo and Periodismo de barrio. In Colombia, the historical journalistic work is maintained by Mutante, Cuestión Pública, Cerosetenta, and Vorágine.
In Venezuela, there is El Bus TV, whose journalists get on buses to do a live newscast or place papers in the streets to inform Venezuelans what their government does not want them to know. The millions of Venezuelan exiles in other countries have also managed to generate media outlets such as Cápsula Migrante, which supports Venezuelan migrants in Peru to obtain basic necessary information, through WhatsApp groups and YouTube.
Last but not least, El hilo, El Surti (Paraguay), GK and Plan V (Ecuador), Ojo Público (Peru), and Muy Waso (Bolivia) are creating very interesting and courageous work that has had an impact on the local audiences.
This is not a definitive list. Undoubtedly, there are many other media outlets that, despite all the circumstances, seek to continue reporting in one of the most dangerous areas for the practice of journalism. These media outlets and their journalistic team are proof that Latin America journalists will continue to seek to confront power and investigate the serious problems of the region in 2024.
Mael Vallejo is vice president of content at Capital Digital (Mexico).
