Media Environment

Colombia continues to be one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Even though there has been a significant improvement in the overall security situation, reporters continue to navigate professional risks. There have been numerous accounts of journalists being threatened with violence or attacked by paramilitary groups or even government officials. [1] In fact, the Ministry of the Interior and Justice has created a journalist protection program, as mandated by the constitution, which reportedly offered protection to 146 journalists in 2008.

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Freedom House, the human rights advocacy group, described Colombia’s media environment as one where private media outlets “are generally free to express a variety of opinions and cover sensitive issues without restrictions”. However, the hostile and threatening nature of the media environment earned Colombia press a “Not Free” designation in the group's rankings.

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The construction of hundreds of community radio stations throughout Colombia has empowered many local communities and indigenous groups. However, they too come under political and monetary pressures from both the government and armed groups. In addition, these stations’ dependence on government advertising revenue has made them susceptible to interference. This is partially reflected in the opinions of InterMedia urban survey respondents (2009), who show high levels of agreement that the media is influenced by the government and economic groups.

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Young urban adults are much less likely to trust the government than older adults. In fact, while older adults hold similar levels of trust for media and the government, trust in media is 13 percentage points higher among young adults (70 percent) compared to trust in government (57 percent). Interestingly, trust in religious institutions, as with government, increases with age. Trust in religious institutions also decreases with educational attainment.

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[1] “Map of Press Freedom: Colombia.” Freedom House. Washington, D.C. Accessed October 2009. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2009.