Latin America

DW Akademie in Latin America

The polarization of the media landscape is more pronounced in Latin American than just about anywhere else; radio stations demonstrate political bias, siding either with the government or the opposition, large, financially strong media corporations subsume financially weaker media organizations and privately-owned media outlets stand in direct opposition to public broadcasters. The media industry's battle for market share has an enormous potential for conflict. But at the same time, Latin Americans are some of the most active social media users in the world - topics ignored by the fragmented mass media are often debated on the Internet.

In a bid to counter this increasing polarization, DW Akademie is working primarily with local and regional media partners in Latin America. Our organization has implemented a range of long-term projects to support balanced and independent reporting in countries such as Columbia, Ecuador and Bolivia.

In addition, DW Akademie has set priority topics in several partner countries. In Nicaragua, where rampant deforestation is a huge challenge, DW Akademie is assisting with the training of journalists enrolled in a Masters of Environmental Reporting at the University of Managua. With this measure, DW Akademie anticipates increasing the visibility of environmental reporting in the media and also heightening the environmental awareness of the broader population.

In Bolivia, DW Akademie is focused on strengthening vocational training for journalists. In La Paz and Santa Cruz, we are helping institutions establish training structures incorporating both theoretical and practical components. This will permit young Bolivian journalists to have vocational journalism training for the first time.

In Guatemala, DW Akademie has prioritized youth as a topic. Currently, the project "Radio Joven" is supporting young journalists and other young people to create programming for their own age group. The long-term goal is to establish a media production center where youth can produce informative and entertaining radio and multimedia content. The plan is for the production center to be self-supporting in the future.

Regional and local partners

Interviews with participants

In Focus: Mynor Tujal from Guatemala

Mynor Tujal, participant of DW Akademie's project Radio Joven in Guatemala (photo: DW Akademie/Elena Ern).

The "Radio Joven" project takes youths seriously, says the young Guatemalan. DW Akademie has been working with up-and-coming Guatemalan journalists since 2009, developing programs that attract young listeners.

Film festival managers from Latin America

Carolina Lopez from Mexico and Alejandro Fuentes from Bolivia at the Berlinale in Berlin, Germany (photo: DW Akademie/ Nadine Wojcik).

Carolina Lopez from Mexico and Alejandro Fuentes from Bolivia met at DW Akademie's recent Berlinale film festival workshop held in Berlin. Both work for film festivals in their own country.

Pablo Lopez Hurtado from Venezuela

Pablo Lopez Hurtado, participant of DW Akademie's long-term project Once Amigos (photo: DW Akademie).

The Venezuelan journalist is taking part in the "Once Amigos" project. He hopes the collaboration between Latin American and German reporters will provide the media in his home country with new inspirations.

Dionicia Mamani from Bolivia

Dionicia Mamani aus Bolivien, Teilnehmerin eines DW Akademie Langzeitprojekts. Mamani arbeitet als Nachrichten-Moderatorin bei Radio Aclo in der Stadt Potosi.
Copyright: DW/Steffen Leidel
Oktober, 2012

Journalist Dionicia Mamani is a radio host in Potosi. At 4000 meters Potosi is one of the highest cities in the world. Mamani mostly reports in Quechua, an indigenous language spoken in this once wealthy mining region.

Rodrigo Villarzu

Acting Head of Latin America division

T: +49. 228. 429-2030
E: dw-akademie@dw.de

02.2012 DW Akademie Medienentwicklung Lateinamerika Imagebild

América Latina blog

Find out about current projects in Latin America, journalism tips and progress in media development.

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DW Akademie in Nicaragua

New perspectives

This student didn't expect tree climbing to be part of her journalism studies but DW Akademie's workshops can be full of surprises. Trainings held at Nicaragua's Managua University put students' creativity to the test.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

Education versus poverty

Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in South America. Education, though, can bring about changes. Managua University's modern buildings are located right behind these shacks. DW Akademie is providing support for the university's journalism and environmental journalism programs.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

Experienced trainers

Developing a curriculum and holding workshops for Nicaraguan journalism students are high on DW Akademie's priority list. Project manager David Olmos (left) and trainer Johannes Metzler have years of experience working in Latin America.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

Being part of it

Top-down lectures are out - lively discussions are in! DW Akademie workshops actively involve students and offer practical tips and approaches.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

Learning together

Eighteen journalism students took part in the March workshop focusing on visual storytelling. For television journalists, visuals are as important as the scripts.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

Creative chaos

A touch of chaos is part of learning visual storytelling. The students here are choosing photos for a story they'll tell without words.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

Less script!

It's one of those "now I get it!" moments - that scripts are just there for "apoyo" or "support." Stories need to be told in pictures.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

No snap shots!

Here's a haphazard shot of a street scene outside the campus. Could you take a better one?
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

Capturing the moment

Definitely! And to do that, you need to consider distance, angle, composition and depth of field. In this case, the subject's gaze becomes the focal point.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

Multimedia journalism

Next year journalism students won't just be using regular cameras. They'll also be working with mobile phones that offer reporters speed and flexibility, low costs and good results.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

DW Akademie gets a stamp of approval

The students and the university see DW Akademie workshops as an important part of their journalism program. While local instructors teach the standard courses DW Akademie trainers add extra input from the field.
DW Akademie in Nicaragua

See you soon!

"We learned a lot and it was fun!" say the students from the visual storytelling workshop. They're shown here together with project manager David Olmos and trainer Johannes Metzler. DW Akademie will also soon be offering training to the university's instructors.

Author: Ruth Krause / hw