Media and Society in Chile Abraham Santibáñez U. Diego Portales January 2008.

Media and Society in Chile

Abraham Santibáñez

U. Diego Portales January 2008

Abraham Santibañez. Universidad Diego Portales

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Chile before 1973• Chile had a long democratic tradition.

The electoral system had been improving through the years and also we have a great degree of freedom of expression.

• But then, in the sixties, we knew of new voices: young people rebelling in France, and the rest of the world.

• We wanted more participation, more democracy, better conditions of living.


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Journalism before 1973 • In spite of the

conventionally free press that Chile used to own, media could not avoid the extreme polarization of our society during the Unidad Popular days


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Our own 9-11 • The military coup occurred

on September 11th 1973 was welcomed by a considerable segment of Chilean people.

• Part of the media was shut down and the rest went under severe control for years, as never before in our history


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1973-1989: Dictatorship • Measures changed

according the circumstances. On occasions, there was censorship, self-censorship, threats, even the risk of imprisonment and/or expulsion from the country. Some journalists were assassinated.


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• At the beginning, we were allowed to continue printing the ERCILLA magazine, very close to the Christian Democracy Party. But when we increased the level of criticism we began to endure increasing pressures and threats.

• In 1976, they confiscated a complete edition of the magazine. Later that year, the owner was “persuaded” to withdraw and sold it.


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• Our intention to pursue with another magazine – HOY - confronted serious difficulties. At that time, it was necessary to request previous permission to come into view with.

• Several months later, military authorities finally gave us the permission to began the publication.


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Lack of interest• For years, journalists in Chile suffer divers

problems. It was very difficult to work under those conditions. Hoy journalists were not allowed to be at Palacio La Moneda; it was difficult to get interviews with government officials; many private companies were afraid of advertising in HOY...

• But, worst of all, most Chileans did not care. They were convinced that we were living on an island of peace, surrounded by enemies.

• Talking about “detenidos-desaparecidos” was to be lying or an anti-patriotic issue.


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1988 • The return to

democracy meant a lot for many of us. We had great expectations and hopes… and strong obstacles too.

• Being defeated in elections, not by force, the dictatorship remained powerful and Pinochet was still the Commander in Chief.


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“As much as possible”• President Aylwin

fixed the limits when he said we had to look for “Justicia en la medida de lo posible”.

• We were under the constant threat of a new military coup.


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Hard years• Media and journalists

had to live with this reality...

• Not all. Most dailies and magazines that were against Pinochet disappear very soon.

• Democracy was not kind to them.


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Some critical views• The history of these years

is not written yet… • The american journalist

Ken Dermota wrote “Chile Inédito” a revealing study that was published in the very moment when this situation began to change.


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London: the crucial moment• The key spot was

the detention of general Pinochet in London, in 1998. Chileans discovered at the very moment that the emperor was naked: Pinochet was vulnerable.


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• At the time, there was a big change in the press.

• The most significant symptom was the beginning of The Clinic.


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New breed of commentators

• There were also other signs: more investigative reporting on TV, less self-censorship and –both in the press and the broadcast media- a new kind of commentators: “los opinólogos”.


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The legal structure• The “Ley de Prensa” was an important

reinforcement. It took eight years to pass in Congress, reflecting doubts and fears, but it is a very strong move in the right way.

• There still remain some legal restrictions, but after the constitutional changes approved in 2005, the core legal obstacles have disappeared.


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Less laws, more self-control...

• At this moment in time, journalists and media owners are stressing the accent on ethics.

• We have two central mechanisms:– El Consejo de Etica de los Medios– El Tribunal de Etica del Colegio de

Periodistas


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But...• They are not well known, so not many

people use them.• And we have one big problem: the

existence of a “duopoly”: El Mercurio and Copesa, that control most of the press.

• The other big problem is the existence of too many journalists. Most of them are underpaid and do not always do a good job.


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The “Ley de Prensa”• The new Press Law has a positive

accent:– to promote the freedom of

expression. • That is why, after all, we can look

with optimism to the future.


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It has been a difficult road.

• We have mentioned already the weak reaction of many of our countrymen when we faced censorship, closing and media restrictions. For them it was more comfortable to ignore what was going on and think that journalists were lying when they talked of abuses and crimes.


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Positive changes• From his arrival to the

Palacio de La Moneda, President Patricio Aylwin made and effort to end all legal restriction. But there were many obstacles. At the beginning he was only able to pass a law that put an end to some excesses, like the power of military courts over journalists.


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Still, some shadows• There are shadows.

– The most important one is the attitude of public opinion. Our society is still afraid of freedom.

– There were, also, some excesses: confusion between news and opinions, unjustified incursions in private life.


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Whose responsibilty?• As Ken Dermota discovered we don’t like

people who dare to contradict official versions or authorities.

• But, the worst, according to my experience, is that at present we don’t appreciate media and journalists the way we used to do. When chileans discovered that authorities had lied to them, they choose –and to some extent, still do- to make responsible the messenger, not themselves.


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Self control: the answer• Today, what we really need are critical

readers, critical radio listeners and critical TV viewers. On this matter, both the media owners and the journalist agree on one point: we do not need more laws. What we really need is media responsibility. We do have self-control mechanisms, but not many people know them.


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Any way...• We think that we are at the turning

point.• There is a positive reaction and,

possibly, because this is an electoral year, we are going to see more debates and less “opinology”.

• I hope it is not only wishful thinking...

Media and Society in Chile Abraham Santibáñez U. Diego Portales January 2008.

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