Media in Colombia
Encyclopedia
Media in Colombia refers to Media
available in Colombia
consisting of several different types of communications media: television
, radio
, cinema
, newspapers, magazine
s, 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 copyright
ed 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.
The organization Reporters Without Borders
compiles and publishes an annual ranking of countries based upon the organization's assessment of their press freedom records. In 2007 Colombia was ranked 126th, within the most dangerous places to be a mass media journalist.
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 Spanish Grupo Planeta.
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 Espacio, founded in 1965 by Ciro Gómez Mejía, is the main yellow journalism
newspaper in the country and with El Tiempo, El Espectador, and the recently founded El Periódico, the only newspapers of national distribution.
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.
The main current issues magazine
s published in Colombia are:
Radio
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.
—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, as compared with an estimated total of 900,000 Internet subscribers by the end of 2005. The current figure equated to 17 millions Internet users, plus 3.8 millions of 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).
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
available in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
consisting of several different types of communications media: television
Television in Colombia
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...
, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, cinema
Cinema of Colombia
Colombian Cinema has struggled to develop as a solid industry throughout its history. During the beginning of the 20th century some production companies tried to maintain a level of constant production but lack of government support and a strong international industry ended up diminishing initiative...
, newspapers, magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s, and Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-based Web sites. Colombia also has a national music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
industry.
Many of the media are controlled by large for-profit corporations who reap revenue from advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
, subscriptions, and sale
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ed material, largely affected by piracy.
Media in Colombia is regulated by the Ministry of Communications and the National Television Commission.
Many deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
and convergence
Convergence (telecommunications)
Telecommunications convergence, network convergence or simply convergence are broad terms used to describe emerging telecommunications technologies, and network architecture used to migrate multiple communications services into a single network...
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
Concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership refers to a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media...
, and the emergence of multinational media conglomerates. Critics allege that localism
Localism (politics)
Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identity...
, local news and other content at the community level, media spending and coverage of news, and diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
of ownership and views have suffered as a result of these processes of media concentration.
The organization Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
compiles and publishes an annual ranking of countries based upon the organization's assessment of their press freedom records. In 2007 Colombia was ranked 126th, within the most dangerous places to be a mass media journalist.
Newspapers
Antonio Nariño
Antonio de la Santísima Concepción Nariño y Álvarez was an ideological Colombian precursor and one of the early political and military leaders of the independence movement in the New Granada - Early political activity :Nariño was born to an aristocratic family...
in 1811. In Colombia the most read and influential newspaper is El Tiempo, which also has the highest newspaper circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
in the country. It was founded in 1911 by Alfonso Villegas Restrepo and currently owned by Spanish Grupo Planeta.
Another influential newspaper is El Espectador
El Espectador
El Espectador is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá...
, founded in 1887 by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez
Fidel Cano Gutiérrez
Fidel Cano Gutiérrez was a Colombian journalist, founder of El Espectador, Colombia's oldest newspaper....
, 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 Espacio, founded in 1965 by Ciro Gómez Mejía, is the main yellow journalism
Yellow journalism
Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism...
newspaper in the country and with El Tiempo, El Espectador, and the recently founded El Periódico, the only newspapers of national distribution.
El País
El País (Cali)
El País is the leading newspaper company in the Pacific region of Colombia. Its headquarters are located in Cali. The corporation is owned by the Lloreda family of Cali which happens to be one of the most traditional families of the Pacific region of Colombia.El País is part of Periódicos...
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
El Colombiano
El Colombiano is the leading newspaper in Antioquia Department in Colombia whose headquarters are located in Medellín.The first edition of this newspaper was published on February 6, 1912 which only had one page, 13 advertisements, but no news articles. In 1976, the first color pictures were added...
newspaper, based in Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, is the most influential newspaper in the Paisa Region
Paisa Region
The Paisas are a people who inhabit a region over the northwest Colombia in the Andes.The region is formed by the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío. Some regions of Valle del Cauca Department and Tolima Department belong to the cultural identity of paisas...
. Other regional newspapers include La Crónica del Quindío
La Crónica del Quindío
La Crónica del Quindío is thedaily newspaper of the Department of Quindío in Colombia. La Crónica is published in the departmental capital Armenia and printed in the neighboring city of Pereira, Colombia.This newspaper reflects conservative views.-External links:...
, La Opinión
La Opinión
La Opinión is a Spanish-language daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, USA and distributed throughout the six counties of Southern California. It is the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the United States and second-most read newspaper in Los Angeles . It is published by...
, 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.
The main current issues magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s published in Colombia are:
- CambioRevista CambioCambio also known as Revista Cambio is a Colombian based social, political and economics magazine. Founded with the name Cambio 16 was later sold and renamed Cambio in 1998 to nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez and other associates...
- CromosRevista CromosRevista Cromos is a Colombian varieties and photojournalism magazine, known for widely covering the Miss Colombia pageant on editions called Mini Cromos. It was founded in 1916 by Miguel Santiago Valencia and Abelardo Arboleda, both from the Colombian city of Popayán...
- SemanaRevista SemanaSemana or Revista Semana is a Colombian-based weekly magazine. It was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo , but was shut down after a controversial cover depicting Cuban leader Fidel Castro.In 1983, journalist Felipe López Caballero re-founded the magazine...
Business, Financial and economics
RadioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
The country has three major national radio networks: Radiodifusora Nacional de Colombia, a state-run national radio; Caracol RadioCaracol Radio
Caracol Radio is one of the main radio networks in Colombia. Founded in Medellín in 1948 when La Voz de Antioquia station acquired the 50% of Emisoras Nuevo Mundo, based in Bogotá....
and RCN Radio
RCN Radio
RCN Radio is one of the main radio networks in Colombia. Founded in 1949 with the integration of Radio Pacífico , La Voz de Medellín' and Emisora Nueva Granada ....
, privately owned networks with hundreds of affiliates. There are other national networks, including Cadena Super
Cadena Súper
Cadena Super is a Colombian radio network, founded in the 1970s by Conservative politician Jaime Pava Navarro. Its flagship Bogotá station, Radio Super, which broadcast at 1040 kHz , replaced pioneer station La Voz de la Víctor at 970 kHz in 1987...
, Todelar, and Colmundo, among others. Many hundreds of radio stations are registered with the Ministry of Communications.
- Caracol RadioCaracol RadioCaracol Radio is one of the main radio networks in Colombia. Founded in Medellín in 1948 when La Voz de Antioquia station acquired the 50% of Emisoras Nuevo Mundo, based in Bogotá....
, founded in MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
in 1948. It was owned by Julio Mario Santo DomingoJulio Mario Santo DomingoJulio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo was a Colombian businessman and patriarch of the wealthy Santo Domingo family. He was the son of Mario Santo Domingo and Beatriz Pumarejo...
until 2004, when the network was escinded of Caracol TVCaracol TVCaracol Televisión is a Colombian private national television network, owned by Julio Mario Santo Domingo.- History :Caracol Televisión started in 1954 when Organización de Radiodifusora Caracol offered to afford national television costs, then state-run, through commercial spots...
and sold to PRISAPRISAPromotora de Informaciones, S.A is a Spanish media conglomerate. The PRISA group was founded in 1972 by Jesús de Polanco.-Newspapers:* El País, daily newspaper* Diario AS sports newspaper* Cinco Días economic newspaper-Magazines:...
.- Los 40 PrincipalesLos 40 PrincipalesLos 40 Principales is the main musical radio station in Spain with more than 4,000,000 listeners. The station was founded in 1966 and in 2006 the station celebrated its 40th anniversary...
Colombia. - HJCKHJCKHJCK El Mundo en Bogotá is a Colombian cultural radio station, founded 15 September 1950 and based in Bogotá. Since 2005 its frequency and call signs are leased by Los 40 Principales, a Caracol Radio network...
. Cultural station. Founded in 1950. Since 2005 it is broadcast by Internet only. - RadioacktivaRadioacktivaRadioacktiva is a Colombian radio station broadcasting from Bogotá. It is owned by Caracol Radio, part of the Spanish media organization Grupo PRISA. It started broadcasting in 1989 programming both rock and pop music. In 1997 it was reformatted to focus on rock music...
- Planeta Rock. Founded in 1989. Rock musicRock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
programming.
- Los 40 Principales
- RCN RadioRCN RadioRCN Radio is one of the main radio networks in Colombia. Founded in 1949 with the integration of Radio Pacífico , La Voz de Medellín' and Emisora Nueva Granada ....
. Founded in 1948 by Enrique and Roberto Ramírez. Its main secondary networks are: La Mega (Pop musicPop musicPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
), Rumba Stereo (ReggaetonReggaetonReggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
), Amor Stereo, Antena 2 (sport broadcasting to 20 cities countrywide), La Cariñosa, El Sol, La FM and Radio Uno (VallenatoVallenatoVallenato, along with cumbia, is currently a popular folk music of Colombia. It primarily comes from the Colombia's Caribbean region. Vallenato literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía de Perijá in...
).
Television
Colombia has five national and many local and regional television channels. The National Television Commission oversees television programming. National Radio and Television of Colombia (Radio Televisión Nacional de ColombiaRadio Televisión Nacional de Colombia
Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia is a colombian state-owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Information Technology...
—RTVC), Colombia’s public broadcaster, oversees three national television stations (one public-commercial, one institutional, and one educational). Television stations include:
- Caracol TVCaracol TVCaracol Televisión is a Colombian private national television network, owned by Julio Mario Santo Domingo.- History :Caracol Televisión started in 1954 when Organización de Radiodifusora Caracol offered to afford national television costs, then state-run, through commercial spots...
: General programming. Founded in 1956 by Fernando Londoño Henao, Cayetano Betancourt, Carlos Sanz de Santamaría and Pedro Navas as a production company. It's a national network since 1998. - RCN TVRCN TVRCN Televisión , is a Colombian private television network. It started as a production company in 1967...
: General programming. Founded in 1967 as a production company. It's a national network since 1998. - Señal ColombiaSeñal ColombiaSeñal Colombia is a Colombian national television channel established and funded by the government, launched in 1970 as Canal 11. It uses its current name since 1995....
: Cultural and educational broadcasting. Founded in 1970. - Canal InstitucionalCanal InstitucionalCanal Institucional is a Colombian state-run national television channel launched 2 February 2004.It broadcasts programmes produced by state institutions in order to promote and publicize their activities to the public...
: Institutional programming. Created in 2004 to replace public-commercial channel Canal ACanal ACanal A was a Colombian state-owned privately run national television channel. It was launched March 27, 1972 as Segunda Cadena, since it was the second television channel in Colombia, and replacing Tele 9 Corazón...
. - Canal UnoCanal UnoCanal Uno is the first Colombian national television channel. It started 13 June 1954 on Channel 8 in Bogotá. It is state-owned, operated by Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia, and privately-run, with programming companies known as programadoras bidding for time slots with the Colombian...
, state-owned national television network, whose programming is provided by private companies.
Regional and local stations include:
- Canal CapitalCanal CapitalCanal Capital is a Colombian local public television channel, launched 3 November 1997, operated as an industrial and commercial company in the Bogotá Capital District. It broadcasts in Bogotá by VHF Channel 2 and via satellite. Its programming is general, though focused on political, cultural, and...
: Local state-run channel to BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district... - CitytvCitytv BogotáCitytv Bogotá is a local television station in Colombia's capital city. It is owned by the Casa Editorial El Tiempo , which publishes the main national Colombian daily newspaper El Tiempo, as well as other magazines such as Portafolio, Cambio, Motor, and Carrusel. CEET licensed the Canadian...
: Local private channel to BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district... - Teleantioquia: Regional channel based in MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
and covers the Antioquia DepartmentAntioquia DepartmentAntioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range... - TelepacíficoTelepacíficoTelepacífico is a Colombian regional public television network, created in 1986 as the city of Cali celebrated its 450th anniversary. It started broadcasting in 1988, with 24 weekly programming hours...
: Regional channel based in CaliCalìCalì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
. Covers the Pacific regionPacific Region of ColombiaThe Pacific Region is one of the five major natural regions of the Colombian geography. The Pacific region covers the area near the Pacific Ocean in Colombia that contains certain endemic species and ecosystems accompanied by Colombian cultural influence.... - Telecafé: Regional channel based in ManizalesManizalesManizales is a city and municipality in central Colombia, capital of Department of Caldas and part of the region of Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis, near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano....
, coverage in the Colombian Coffee-Growers AxisColombian Coffee-Growers AxisColombian Coffee-Growers Axis , also known as Coffee Triangle is a part of the Colombian Paisa region which is famous for growing and production of a majority of the Colombian coffee, considered by some as the best coffee in the world. There are three departments in the area: Caldas, Quindío and... - TelecaribeTelecaribeTelecaribe is a regional television network for the Caribbean region of Colombia.-History:The station was set up in the early 1980s in Valledupar, Colombia and was created by a local entrepreneur named Jose Jorge Dangond...
: Regional channel based in BarranquillaBarranquillaBarranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, covers the Caribbean Region of Colombia. - Televisión Regional del OrienteTelevisión Regional del OrienteTelevisión Regional del Oriente is a Colombian regional public television network, created in 1997. Its signal reaches Santander and Norte de Santander and broadcasts 18-hours a day from Bucaramanga and Cúcuta....
: Regional channel based in BucaramangaBucaramangaBucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
, covers Santander DepartmentSantander DepartmentSantander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...
and Norte de Santander. - Teleislas: Regional channel for the San Andrés y Providencia archipelagoArchipelagoAn archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
. - Canal 13Canal 13 (Colombia)Canal 13 is a Colombian regional television channel, focused on young audiences. Its signal covers Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Tolima, Huila, Casanare, Meta, Vichada, Arauca, Caquetá, Guaviare, Vaupés, Amazonas, and Putumayo. It broadcasts from Bogotá....
: Regional channel based in Bogotá, covers CundinamarcaCundinamarca Department- Origin of the name :The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua. Meaning "Condor's Nest", it was used in pre-Columbian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands....
, BoyacáBoyacá DepartmentBoyacá is one of the 32 Departments of Colombia, and the remnant of one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera to the border with Venezuela, although the western end...
, Tolima, HuilaHuila DepartmentHuila is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva.-Geography:The south of the department is located in the Colombian Massif...
, CasanareCasanare DepartmentCasanare is a department of Colombia. It is in the central eastern region of the country. Its capital is Yopal. It contains oil fields and an 800 km pipeline leading to the coastal port of Coveñas owned by BP.-Municipalities:# Aguazul# Chameza...
, MetaMeta DepartmentMeta is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known as the Llanos. Its capital is Villavicencio...
, VichadaVichada DepartmentVichada is a department of the Republic of Colombia in South America. Vichada is located in the eastern plains of Colombia, in the Orinoquia region within the Orinoco river basin bordering the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the north and east...
, AraucaArauca DepartmentArauca is a department of Colombia located in the extreme north of the Orinoco part of Colombia , bordering Venezuela. It is bordered to the south by the Casanare River and the Meta River, which separate it from the departments of Casanare and Vichada. To the west borders with the Boyacá Department...
, Caquetá, GuaviareGuaviare DepartmentGuaviare is a department of Colombia. It is in the southern central region of the country. Its capital is San José del Guaviare. Guaviare was created on July 4, 1991 by the new Political Constitution of Colombia...
, VaupésVaupés DepartmentVaupés is a department of Colombia in the jungle covered Amazonas Region. It is located in the southeast part of the country, bordering Brazil to the east, the department of Amazonas to the south, Caquetá and Guaviare, and Guainía to the north covering a total area of 54,135 km²...
, Amazonas, and Putumayo. Most programming is youth oriented.
Internet
- Main article: Internet in ColombiaInternet in ColombiaInternet access in Colombia shows a marked increase during the last few years. As of September 2009, the web connections surpassed two million, as compared with an estimated total of 900,000 Internet subscribers by the end of 2005...
Internet access in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
shows a marked increase during the last few years. As september 2009, the web connections surpasses two million, as compared with an estimated total of 900,000 Internet subscribers by the end of 2005. The current figure equated to 17 millions Internet users, plus 3.8 millions of 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).
Media ownership
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).Freedom of the press
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.External links
Colombian Ministry of Communications- http://www.mediosmedios.com.ar/A.%20Colombia.htm Quick access to Colombian media
- News on Colombia in English
- Colombian weekly Semana's English news section