Part of a series on the |
Culture of Colombia |
---|
![]() |
Society |
Topics |
Symbols |
Mass media in Colombia refers to Mass media available in Colombia consisting of several different types of communications media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Web sites. Colombia also has a national music industry.
Many of the media are controlled by large for-profit corporations who reap revenue from advertising, subscriptions, and sale of copyrighted material, largely affected by piracy.
Media in Colombia is regulated by the Ministry of Communications and the National Television Commission.
Many deregulation and convergence have occurred in an attempt by the government to turn the mass media industry in Colombia more competitive, leading to mega-mergers, further concentration of media ownership, and the emergence of multinational media conglomerates. Critics allege that localism, local news and other content at the community level, media spending and coverage of news, and diversity of ownership and views have suffered as a result of these processes of media concentration.
In 2015, Colombia ranked 128th place on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom scale, making it one of the most dangerous places to be a mass media journalist.[ citation needed ]
Newspaper media in Colombia date back to the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The first newspaper published in Colombia was La Bagatela, edited by Antonio Nariño in 1811. In Colombia the most read and influential newspaper is El Tiempo , which also has the highest newspaper circulation in the country. It was founded in 1911 by Alfonso Villegas Restrepo and currently owned by Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo.
Another influential newspaper is El Espectador , founded in 1887 by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez, was for many years one of the most important dailies in Colombia but due to a financial crisis its circulation was restricted to one edition weekly between 2001 and 2008, when it returned as a daily. El Nuevo Siglo , a conservative newspaper, focuses on political news. El Espacio , founded in 1965 by Ciro Gómez Mejía, was the main yellow journalism newspaper in the country until 2013 when it was sold to Roberto Esper Espaje after it could not cope with the competence of fledgling tabloids Q'Hubo and Extra. El Tiempo and El Espectador are the only newspapers of national distribution.
Free newspapers include Publimetro (Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla) and ADN , published by El Tiempo in the same cities mentioned plus Bucaramanga.
El País newspaper is the main source of written information in the south-western region of the country, specially in the Valle del Cauca department. El Colombiano newspaper, based in Medellín, is the most influential newspaper in the Paisa Region. Other regional newspapers include La Crónica del Quindío , La Opinión , and El Heraldo , which covers the area of the Caribbean Region of Colombia. MIRA is a tabloid format newspaper with circulation of some 150,000 per week. It is edited by MIRA political party.
El Bogotano is a virtual news platform with a tradition en newsprint since 1973. It is an open ended virtual newspaper that allows for independent journalists to publish in its multiple content platforms.
The main current issues magazines published in Colombia are Semana and Cromos ; Cambio folded in 2010.
The country has three major national radio networks: Radiodifusora Nacional de Colombia, a state-run national radio; Caracol Radio and RCN Radio, privately owned networks with hundreds of affiliates. There are other national networks, including Cadena Super, Todelar, and Colmundo, among others. Many hundreds of radio stations are registered with the Ministry of Communications. [1]
Colombia has five national and many local and regional television channels. The National Television Authority oversees television programming. National Radio and Television of Colombia (Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia —RTVC), Colombia's public broadcaster, oversees three national television stations (one public-commercial, one institutional, and one educational). Television stations include:
Regional and local stations include:
Internet access in Colombia shows a marked increase during the last few years. As September 2009, the web connections surpasses two million, [2] as compared with an estimated total of 900,000 Internet subscribers by the end of 2005. The current figure equated to 17 million Internet users, plus 3.8 million mobile internet users, or 38.5 percent of the 2009 population, as compared with 4,739,000 Internet users in 2005, or 11.5 percent of the 2005 population (10.9 per 100 inhabitants). [1]
Media ownership remains concentrated in the hands of wealthy families, large national conglomerates, or groups associated with one or the other of the two dominant political parties. The first foreign media owner in the country is the Spanish media conglomerate Prisa, which acquired majority ownership of the country's largest radio network. There are public television and radio networks and two news agencies (Ciep–El País and Colprensa). [1]
The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally has respected these rights in practice. Although security forces generally have not subjected journalists to harassment, intimidation, or violence, there have been exceptions, as well as reports of threats and violence against journalists by corrupt officials. Colombian journalists practice self-censorship to avoid reprisals by corrupt officials, criminals, and members of illegal armed groups. In the fifth annual Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index published in October 2006, Colombia ranked 131 of a total of 168 countries, a decline from its 2005 ranking of 128. More than 80 journalists have been murdered in the past decade for doing their jobs. Major international wire services, newspapers, and television networks have a presence in the country and generally operate free of government interference. [1]
Silvia Milena Corzo Pinto is a Colombian lawyer and presenter.
Caracol Televisión is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned by Caracol Medios, a unit of Grupo Valorem. It is one of the leading private TV networks in Colombia, alongside Canal RCN and Canal 1. The network distributes and produces 5,000+ programs and has aired in more than 80 countries.
RCN Televisión, branded as Canal RCN is a Colombian free-to-air television network owned by Organización Ardila Lülle. It was founded as a television production company on March 23, 1967, and officially launched as an independent channel on July 10, 1998. Its main shareholder is Carlos Ardila Lülle. It produced Yo soy Betty, la fea, one of the most successful Colombian telenovelas.
Telepacífico is a Colombian regional public television network, created in 1986 as the city of Cali celebrated its 450th anniversary. It started broadcasting on July 3, 1988, with 24 weekly programming hours. It was the third regional network in the country, after Teleantioquia, created in 1985, and Telecaribe, created in 1986.
Telecaribe is a regional television network for the Caribbean region of Colombia.
José Yamid Amat Ruiz is a Colombian journalist.
Todelar is a system of radio stations that covers all of Colombia, founded in 1953 by Bernardo Tobón de la Roche. Its flagship station is La Voz de Bogotá since 2017. Radio Continental, also in Bogotá, had this role until 2016, having joined Todelar in 1957.
RTI Colombia, also known as Radio Televisión Interamericana, is a Colombian television production company and former programadora. It aired 14.5 hours per week of programming in 1993. In the 1990s, as a programadora, it was a member of OTI Colombia, a coalition that included Producciones PUNCH, Producciones JES, RCN Television, Caracol Televisión and Datos y Mensajes.
Television in Colombia or Colombian television is a media of Colombia. It is characterized for broadcasting telenovelas, series, game shows and TV news. Until 1998 it was a state monopoly. There are two privately owned TV networks and three state-owned TV networks with national coverage, as well as six regional TV networks and dozens of local TV stations. There are numerous cable TV companies operating in Colombia under each Colombian department statutes. These cable companies also develop their own channels, in addition to a variety of international channels. Television in Colombia has always relied on technological advancements from developed countries importing almost all the equipment.
Teletigre, also known as TV-9 TeleBogotá, is Colombia's first private television channel, founded by journalist and politician Consuelo Salgar de Montejo, who won a state bid against Caracol TV, RTI Colombia, and Producciones Punch. It is now operating as a Digital Channel through Youtube and is owned by "La Casa Editorial el Bogotano."
Canal Trece is a Colombian free-to-air television network with regional coverage, specialized in cultural programming. Being a public television station, it is owned by the Colombian Government and its operations are managed by the RTVC Public Media System. The headquarters of the channel are located in Bogotá.
Canal 1 is a Colombian state-owned television channel. It is owned by the Government of Colombia and managed by Phoenix Media, a private company. From 1957 to 2017, the channel was administered by private programming companies known as programadoras, which bid for time slots with the Colombian state.
Virginia Vallejo García is a Colombian author, journalist, television and radio director, anchorwoman, model, columnist, socialite, and political asylee in the United States of America.
Humberto Rodríguez Calderón, known as El Gato, is a radio personality and television host. Rodríguez Calderón has hosted programs on Spanish language stations in the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Florida. In August 2011, he replaced Hernán Orjuela as the host of the long-running comedy program Sábados Felices.
In Colombian broadcasting, programadoras are companies that produce television programs, especially for the public-commercial Canal Uno.
Gustavo Ernesto Gómez Córdoba is a Colombian journalist and writer, whose work has been recognized with awards including Journalist of the Year in 2010. He began working in Cromos magazine in the 1990s and became prominent as a national radio broadcaster starting in 2005, when he joins the team of 6AM Hoy x Hoy from Caracol Radio. He also writes for SoHo magazine and another significant media.
Media ownership in Colombia is highly concentrated. The four largest newspapers together account for two-thirds of total readership, and the two largest television channels have about two-thirds of the market and 78% of advertising revenues, according to a 2016 study by Reporters Without Borders and the Colombian Federation of Journalists.
Jorge Alfredo Vargas Angulo is a Colombian journalist and news presenter.
Juan Diego Alvira Cortés is a Colombian journalist, news presenter and lawyer.
Judith Sarmiento Granada is a Colombian lawyer and journalist known nationally for her work in various radio and television media since the 1970s.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)