El Salvador / Americas

El Salvador’s media continued to be polarized, and journalists suffered from violent attacks and a lack of access to public information. The tragic January and February earthquakes that left 1 million Salvadorans homeless revealed the vast rift that remained between leftist partisans and conservative groups 10 years after the end of a long and brutal…

BY EXPOSING CORRUPTION, POLITICAL INTRIGUE, and massive abuse of power, journalists in Peru helped bring down the regime of President Alberto K. Fujimori last year. Fujimori’s dramatic fall demonstrated that the Latin American press remains a key bulwark against leaders who continue to use subtle and not-so subtle means to control the flow of information.…

IN A YEAR THAT SAW EL SALVADOR’S FORMER LEFTIST GUERRILLAS EMERGE as the country’s leading political party, conservative publishers reined in the journalists they employed. The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) completed its transformation from a guerrilla army into a leading political party in the March 12 elections, winning a plurality in the Legislative…

Speaking Out in Guatemala and l SalvadorBy Marylene SmeetsLast April, a mysterious program called “Hoy por Hoy” (“Right Now”) appeared on Guatemalan radio. The format consisted of gossip and political chitchat, and the hosts seemed to have it in for journalists. One of them often described Dina Fern‡ndez, a columnist and editor at Guatemala’s biggest…

When is official control of the press necessary? Never, say U.S press freedom advocates. But in Kosovo, many local journalists support a new regulatory board designed to censor hate speech.

When is official control of the press necessary? Never, say U.S. press freedom advocates. But in Kosovo, many local journalists support a new regulatory board designed to censor hate speech.

When is official control of the press necessary? Never, say U.S. press freedom advocates. But in Kosovo, many local journalists support a new regulatory board designed to censor hate speech.

Guatemala and El Salvador have both emerged from bloody civil wars fought between conservative central governments and leftist insurgents. And in both countries, the press is beginning to show signs of independence.

Guatemala y El Salvador vienen levantando cabeza de sendas guerras sangrientas libradas entre gobiernos conservadores de persuasión centralista e insurgentes izquierdistas. Y en ambos países, la prensa comienza a dar señales de independencia.