The Impact of Digital Technology on Journalism and Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean

This 81-page report discusses the impact of digital transition on the media industry, democracy and political reporting, investigative journalism, and new media in Latin America. Resulting from the Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas hosted in September 2009, co-sponsored by the Open Society Foundation Media Program and the Knight Center, the report includes qualitative analysis of the personal and organisational experiences of forum participants through the transition process. According to the report, while digital technology provides many opportunities, in reality the effects on democracy and the media have been unequal, among countries and among different segments of the population.

According to the report, experiences show that digital technology has unequal effects on journalism and democracy in Latin American and the Caribbean, principally because of unequal levels of internet penetration between and within countries. The effects of digital technology on journalism occur in three principal categories: the dynamics of news and information generation, the professional practices and skills that are necessary to survive and prosper in the new environment (i.e. training), and the situation of traditional media.

The variety of ways digital technology is being used for investigative journalism ranges from simple distribution of textual content (as in the majority of cases), to compiling complex databases and creating infographics that citizens and other journalists can use. Citizen journalism is making forceful inroads into Latin American and Caribbean society, but, in the contemporary context, the region’s journalists believe that the main challenge is to keep up with the growth of social networks and take advantage of their potential.

Other forms of participation and interaction, like comment sections on traditional media outlet websites, have become a problem and raise important ethical and legal questions that are not unique to Latin America on anonymity and responsibility for such user-generated content. On the other hand, in terms of mobile technology, while its large consumer base is anticipating a rapid expansion of digital technology – like internet access – high service costs and the level of quality of the most widely used phones limit mobile technology’s potential. This paradox can be partially expanded to video, where content generators recognise the potential of the internet and cell phones as new distribution channels, but remain dependent on broadcast TV to reach the general public.
The report also notes that within this complex scenario, young people are an evasive audience for new content generators. The media’s position towards youth ranges from giving up on trying to win them over, to others who are involving youth in different ways than they have been up until now, and others who are redefining who the youth are.

Click here to download the full report in English PDF format.