How journalists helped stabilize a new Colombia

fjp-latinamerica:

CJR’s Justin D. Martin posted today an interesting article about the regeneration of Colombia through international coverage and the role that journalists have played to that effect.

Via Columbia Journalism Review:

Michael LaRosa and German Mejia wrote in a 2012 history of the country: “Global media have shifted significantly in the way they cover Colombia. Stories focusing on tourism, restaurants, Colombian tennis stars, and positive reviews of literary works…suggest the US media’s perception of the Andean nation is evolving away from the myopic, one-dimensional view that marked earlier portrayals of the country.”

And as for domestic journalists and their perceptions: It’s easier for reporters to focus on a country’s positives when they aren’t being murdered.

A career in Colombian journalism today, though, is no longer a notarized death wish. Sporadic violence against reporters still exists but dead journalists are much less a seasonal feature in Colombia today.

Read on for thought-provoking quotes from former president César Gaviria and the editorial staff of national newspaper El Tiempo.

FJP: Probably the grandest Latin American pet peeve ever: Colombia ≠ Columbia