Media Responsibility and the Quality of Democracy: How the media serve -and fail to serve- democracy Latin America

John Dinges, M.A.

doi:10.31207/rch.v2i1.16

John Dinges, M.A.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31207/rch.v2i1.16

Resumen

Resumen

Este trabajo intenta insertar preguntas sobre la calidad del periodismo tal como se practica en los distintos países de América Latina en el debate sobre la evolución y el fortalecimiento de las democracias saludables en esos países. Sugiere un marco para entender el papel crítico de los medios de comunicación en las sociedades democráticas; además intenta ir más allá del discurso que se concentra en “la libertad de expresión” y hace hincapié en las maneras específicas y las prácticas de noticias de los medios de comunicación pueden apoyar una democracia sana y abrir el difícil debate de cómo los medios podrían debilitar o incluso dañar la democracia. Por último, presenta una serie de criterios que podrían utilizarse en futuros estudios de casos específicos para evaluar si y cómo los medios de comunicación están sirviendo o no a la democracia.

Palabras clave: Periodismo, medios de comunicación, democracia, libertad de expresión, opinion pública.

Abstract

This paper attempts to insert questions about the quality of journalism as it is practiced in individual Latin American countries into the discussion about the evolution and strengthening of healthy democracies in those countries. It suggests a framework for understanding the critical role of news media in democratic societies; it attempts to going beyond discourse narrowly focused on “freedom of expression” and to emphasize the specific and practical ways news media support a healthy democracy and to open the difficult discussion about ways the media weaken or even harm democracy. Finally, it presents a set of criteria that might be used in further studies of specific cases to evaluate whether and how media organizations are serving or failing to serve democracy.

Keywords: Journalism, media, democracy, freedom of expression, public opinion.

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Biografía del autor/a

John Dinges, M.A.

John DINGES, Ph.D. Director of the school’s radio curriculum, which he revamped to emphasize public radio journalism. He received a BA from Loras College and an MA in Latin American Studies from Stanford University. Dinges began his career as a reporter and copy editor for The Des Moines Register & Tribune. He was a freelance correspondent in Latin America for many years, during the period of military governments and civil wars in South and Central America, writing for Time, The Washington Post, ABC Radio, The Miami Herald and other news organizations. On his return to the United States, he worked as assistant editor on the foreign desk at The Washington Post. He joined National Public Radio as it was building up its foreign coverage, serving as deputy foreign editor and managing editor for news. He is the author, most recently, of The Condor Years: How Pinochet and his Allies Brought Terrorism to Three Continents (The New Press 2004). His other books include Assassination on Embassy Row (1980), Our Man in Panama: The Shrewd Rise and Brutal Fall of Manuel Noriega (1990), Sound Reporting: The National Public Radio Guide to Radio Journalism and Production (as co-editor and co-author) (1992), and Independence and Integrity: A Guidebook for Public Radio Journalism (co-editor) (1995). His awards include the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for excellence in Latin American reporting, the Latin American Studies Media Award, and two Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia University Awards (as NPR Managing Editor). He serves on the advisory boards of Human Rights Watch and the National Security Archive, and is a juror for the Cabot awards and the du-Pont Columbia awards.