Articles Feature

NPR Names First Latina Head of News

by richard02481

Eva Rodriguez Favors ‘Really Being Inclusive’

Police to Return Items Taken in Newspaper Raid
Detroit Station Ends Its Black Talk Shows

Homepage photo: NPR’s headquarters in Washington.

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The NPR newsroom in Washington, D.C., is part of a global 200-plus-person newsgathering operation that Eva Rodriguez will oversee. (Credit: NPR)

Eva Rodriguez Favors ‘Really Being Inclusive’

Eva Rodriguez, a former deputy foreign editor at The Washington Post who left last year to found a global nonprofit newsroom covering women, has been named NPR’s vice president and executive editor, the first Hispanic journalist in such a role, the network announced Wednesday.

“In this leadership role Rodriguez will oversee NPR’s global 200-plus-person newsgathering operation including reporters based internationally, across the country and in Washington DC,” the announcement said. “She will serve as the senior editorial leader for all of NPR’s platforms, news desks and beats, including desk editors, reporters, correspondents and associated production staff.”

Rodriguez succeeds Terence Samuel, who in June was named editor in chief of USA Today.

Rodriguez (pictured) promises an inclusive management style, judging from her comments at a Journal-isms Roundtable last year on the need for foreign correspondents of color.

Rodriguez said she’d “seen too many examples of . . . especially women and journalists of color [who] are brought into institutions, and yay! That is a win. But as soon as you get there, you are now — the things that were so appealing about you, your skills, your smarts, your ability to see different stories, to connect on a real level with many different people, are now sometimes banged out of you, because you need to fit into this square. . . .

“Cling fiercely to that which, you know, makes you such an important voice in this space. And that is your abilities, and your experiences in raising new stories, new angles, new voices that need and deserve to be heard.”

Rodriguez added that hiring editors should ask themselves, “Are we making sure that that is really a reflection of your best people, or is it just a reflection of those who are in power already? I think every institution needs to do a much better job of making sure that we are reaching out and really being inclusive, not just checking off a box.”

Concerning foreign news coverage, Rodriguez said then, “so much of what we do as Western organizations is through a Western lens — by definition, which distorts what is actually happening on the ground.

“It does not always reflect the real experiences of groups in those countries, and particularly women and women of color, who are often underrepresented in the news, not quoted as experts in that, and so I do think we need to think as foreign correspondents of those stories that are not necessarily at the top of our list for our editors.”

Edith Chapin, NPR’s senior vice president for news and editor in chief, said in the announcement, “Eva’s award-winning journalism career is deep and varied with extensive experience in digital media and a strong commitment to making sure the audience is front and center. The breadth and depth of Eva’s experience both in areas covered and organizations she has worked in will serve us well. In addition, she has a terrific sense of humor, which is always welcome.”

The Marion County (Kan.) Record was raided by local law enforcement Friday based on allegations the newspaper engaged in identity theft to secure information about a local merchant’s drunken driving conviction. The newspaper says the information was legally obtained and the police search was illegal. (Credit: Sam Bailey/Kansas Reflector)

Police to Return Items Taken in Newspaper Raid

“Police had ‘insufficient evidence’ to raid the offices of a small Kansas newspaper — and seized belongings should be returned immediately, officials said Wednesday,” David K. Li and Matthew Mata reported for NBC News.

Officers raided the Marion County Record on Friday, the newspaper said, in a case that infuriated press freedom watchdogs, who claimed that this law enforcement action was a blatant violation of constitutional rights.

“Police said they believed an ’employee of the newspaper may have committed’ a computer-based crime, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said.

” ‘Upon further review, however, I have come to the conclusion that insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized,’ Ensey said in a statement.

” ‘As a result, I have submitted a proposed order asking the court to release the evidence seized. I have asked local law enforcement to return the material seized to the owners of the property.’

“A lawyer for the newspaper said he was working quickly to get back the seized items.

” ‘Yes, I can confirm the county attorney has withdrawn the search warrant and the items seized are being released,’ the newspaper’s attorney Bernie Rhodes said. ‘My forensic expert is en route to Marion to retrieve them.’ . . .

“The matter is now in the hands of state authorities with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). . . .”

“Your show will no longer air on WFDF 910AM Superstation”‘ station manager Kevin Coles emailed WFDF’s local talk show hosts. “‘All access passes have been revoked and you are no longer allowed on the premises. The guard has been notified not to give you entry.”

Detroit Station Ends Its Black Talk Shows

“The wealthy white owner of 910AM Superstation, a predominantly Black talk radio station in metro Detroit, shocked his unpaid hosts and dwindling audience by abruptly changing the format to sports,” Steve Neavling reported Monday for Detroit Metro Times.

The publication disclosed that Neavling was a host and social media manager at the station from 2017 to 2018.

“Without notice, the station sent an email to the hosts at 8 p.m. on Friday, notifying them of ‘a format change’ and warning them not to return to the station’s property in Southfield,” Neavling continued.

“ ‘Your show will no longer air on WFDF 910AM Superstation,’ station manager Kevin Coles wrote in the email. ‘All access passes have been revoked and you are no longer allowed on the premises. The guard has been notified not to give you entry.’

“The terse email and sudden change infuriated some of the hosts and prompted others to accuse the owner, millionaire Kevin Adell, of exploiting Black people by turning racial anxiety into entertainment and failing to pay the hosts for their shows. . . .

“Adell purchased the 50,000-watt station from Radio Disney in January 2015 and launched the talk show format, pitching it to a Black audience. He blanketed the region with billboards promoting 910AM, which he dubbed, ‘Detroit’s only urban talk station.’

“In an interview with Metro Times, Adell says the format was no longer profitable and only attracted about 2,100 listeners a month, an abysmally small audience for a radio station.

“ ‘When you look at it, no one supported it,’Adell says. ‘I couldn’t get the community to support it.’ . . .”

Breana Nobles reported Monday for the Detroit News: “Since November 2015, the station has been one of the few to focus on Black listeners in Metro Detroit and was described as ‘Detroit’s urban talk radio station.’ It, however, wasn’t included in the July ranking of Nielsen Media Research’s top 30 stations in Detroit. . . .”

Trump Advances Linked to News Outlets’ Decline

August 15, 2023

Hillary Clinton Cites Rise of Social Media
Atlanta Journalist Escapes Having to Testify
Alex Mena Promoted to Top Editor at Miami Herald

Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews to Lead CBS News
CNN’S New Lineup Features Rising Stars
Museum Collected Brains From People of Color
Raid on Kansas Paper ‘Could Happen Anywhere’

Sage Steele Leaving ESPN
Blocked From DeSantis Rally
L.A. Times Series by Blacks, Latinos Were Catalysts
El Salvador Leader Creates ‘Informational Echo Chamber

Support Journal-isms

Donations are tax-deductible.

Hillary Clinton told Rachel Maddow, “We have a splintered information ecosystem, which really works to the disadvantage of somebody who is not a performer in a political theater sense, but is a producer in a political results sense.” (Credit: MSNBC)

Hillary Clinton Cites Rise of Social Media

A “splintered information ecosystem” in which traditional media outlets are losing ground to social media is partly responsible for a disconnect in the country that helped allow Donald Trump to carry out the acts that led to his indictment Monday, according to Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump was indicted by an Atlanta grand jury in a sweeping racketeering case, accusing Trump and some of his former top aides of orchestrating a “criminal enterprise” to reverse the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Clinton, who won the popular vote in 2016 but lost in the electoral college, spoke with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow Monday night as the network covered the unfolding indictment developments without commercial interruption.

The grand jury named the former president and 18 others in “an unprecedented challenge of presidential misconduct” that targeted some of Trump’s most prominent advisers, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, his former personal lawyer, and Mark Meadows, who served as White House chief of staff at the time of the election, as the New York Times reported.

The Journal-isms Roundtable plans Sunday to discuss “How the Democrats Plan to Wage the 2024 Presidential Campaign” with Michael Tyler (pictured), newly named communications director for the Biden-Harris Campaign and Quentin Fulks (pictured, below), Democratic strategist who most recently served as campaign manager for Sen. Raphael Warnock’s 2022 successful reelection campaign in Georgia. Others are to discuss the spread of voter misinformation and voter suppression. It is to be simulcast on Facebook at 1 p.m. EDT. More information here.

On Monday, Maddow said of President Biden, “His approval ratings aren’t strong and his prospects for reelection are sort of middling, at best.

“What do you see as the disconnect there?”

Clinton replied, “Look, I think it is true that a lot of people in our country don’t even know what he’s done.

“And part of that is, they don’t get their news from MSNBC. They get their news from social media, if they get any news at all. They don’t have the kind of information that would give them confidence in knowing what their government is doing.

“We have this bizarre situation where bridges are being built and roads are being fixed, and people who didn’t vote for the money to do that are claiming credit for it. And how are citizens supposed to make up their minds?

“So we have a splintered information ecosystem, which really works to the disadvantage of somebody who is not a performer in a political theater sense, but is a producer in a political results sense.

“How long can you talk about infrastructure? It gets boring. Let’s change and talk about Donald Trump or one of these other people who do nothing but give us negative messages, because that is so much more exciting.”

The former secretary of state continued, “And, at the end of the day, how people get their information is the basis on which they make decisions in a democracy. And we have a very difficult time breaking through that. So, I have a lot of sympathy for what the White House goes through every day trying to get through to people, so that they at least know, ‘look what’s been done.’ You can make your judgment one way or the other, but at least know what we are doing in your community to try to get us better prepared for the future.

“You know, the United States is the best-positioned country in the world for the future. And to think that we have leaders and people in our own country who tear us down, who undermine us, who root against us, even sometimes rooting for our adversaries, is just incredibly difficult to accept.

Rudy Giuliani, one of those indicted Monday, admitted in court filings last month that he spewed lies about Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman, in foreground, and Shaye Moss. Guiliani infamously accused of trying to rig the 2020 election for President Biden. The two women, shown at a June 21, 2022, hearing, filed a defamation lawsuit against the former New York mayor and lawyer for former president Donald Trump. (Credit: Michael Reynolds/Pool)

And in an implied challenge to the news media to connect the dots, Clinton said, “So we have a lot of work to do. And I hope that more people will be willing to kind of take up the burden and try to deal with this sense of divisiveness, loneliness, fragmentation that really gives fertile ground for people like Trump to, unfortunately, peddle their wares. . . .

“I think that we have to do a better job of trying to stand up against the divisiveness and against the constant stream of lies and falsehoods that come out of the — not just politicians, but also social media and other sources of information. There’s enough work for all of us to do. It’s not just political leaders. It’s really everybody saying, this country is too precious, too valuable, too important to allow it to continue to be fragmented the way it has been. And rebuilding that sense of trust and community is no easy task. I don’t think anybody would argue with how difficult it would be, but there are ways of doing it.”

The big picture shows a push toward authoritarianism that includes Trump rooting against the U.S. women’s national soccer team as too “woke,” Clinton said. “There’s nothing American about rooting against our own team or undermining the rule of law, going after people who do nothing but their best to try to run elections. I mean, you just go down the list, and it’s a very long list, but at the core of it is a set of beliefs about Americans who are entitled to rule, and the rest of us.”

Journalist George Chidi was one of the witnesses called to testify in Georgia’s 2020 election probe, Atlanta’s WXIA-TV reported. In the end, Chidi’s testimony was not needed, he explained. (Credit: WXIA)

Atlanta Journalist Escapes Having to Testify

Independent journalist George Chidi, who walked in on a group said to be trying to rig the Georgia election results — and went live on Facebook — did not have to testify before a grand jury after all

Chidi was asked to testify on Tuesday in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s 2020 elections-interference case against former president Donald Trump and his allies.

Later Chidi said he was going to court on Monday. He expressed misgivings because “Journalists should not be testifying in front of grand juries.”

Chidi tweeted Monday night, “We are done. Didn’t need me.” He also tweeted, “If I am not required to testify, it’s a victory for journalism, because none of the bigger problems of confidentiality or government influence come into play. Perhaps the jury understands that as well. I’ve said all along that they may not need my testimony. But I am present.”

Silver Knight winner in Art Anabelle Figueroa, of Coral Reef Senior High in Miami, takes a selfie with Alex Mena, managing editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald, and Joan Chrissos, education and health editor of the Miami Herald, at the Miami Herald & el Nuevo Herald 64th Silver Knight Award Ceremony in Miami in 2022. (Credit: Mattias J. Ocner/Miami Herald)

Alex Mena Promoted to Top Editor at Miami Herald

“Newsroom leader Alex Mena, who rose from answering phones as a teenager at the Miami Herald to become managing editor of the storied newsroom, on Monday was named executive editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald,” Howard Cohen reported Monday for the Miami Herald.

“Mena, 50, (pictured) becomes the Miami Herald’s first immigrant executive editor. A Nicaraguan child who came across the Rio Grande on his father’s shoulders, Mena worked his way up to lead sports and metro news departments, el Nuevo Herald, and helped direct the Herald’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Surfside condo collapse.

“In his new role, Mena will also oversee the executive editor of the Bradenton Herald as Florida Regional Editor for McClatchy, the parent company of the three Florida publications. Mena has been overseeing all three newsrooms in an interim role since February. . . .

Mena is president of the South Florida Chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and vice president of the Florida Society of News Editors.

The new executive editor “was born in Nicaragua and lived with his parents and was barely in elementary school when the Sandinistas took control of the country in the late-1970s. A few years later, Mena’s parents decided the family needed to escape to Miami. Mena was 11 at the time.

“We were leaving everything we knew and loved behind, but we were going to a place where my parents said we could be free. We didn’t know the dangers that awaited us as we headed to Mexico, the only place we could fly to that bordered the United States,” Mena wrote.

“Mena called it ‘the mission of our lives.’ The family encountered violence and obstacles, from mankind and nature alike, on the journey to a new life in Miami where the Menas had relatives.

“Mena said accountability journalism and growing the Heralds’ audience are among his top priorities.

“ ‘We are known for our investigative and local accountability reporting, and we will continue to focus on that. We will also do the stories that matter the most to our communities. As I have gone out to meet our community leaders and community members where they are over the past few months, I understand we need to do more to connect with them. And I will make it my mission to do that,’ Mena said. . . .”

Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews to Lead CBS News

“Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews (pictured) will take direct oversight of CBS News, the latest move in a broader restructure of operations at Paramount Global’s CBS business,” Brian Steinberg reported Monday for Variety.

“Matthews, a CBS News veteran who once supervised the Washington bureau and had been put in charge of overall newsgathering, will now have top editorial oversight for CBS News across all platforms. She will oversee all CBS News programs, bureaus, global newsgathering, streaming and digital editorial, as well as standards and practices, special events, politics, elections and surveys, social, the race and culture unit and CBS News Radio.

“She will report to Wendy McMahon, who was put in charge earlier Monday of CBS News, local stations and syndication efforts. CBS appears to be streamlining some of its businesses. Neeraj Khemlani, who had worked as a co-president alongside McMahon overseeing CBS News, on Sunday announced he would step down from his role to tackle a new content production deal. Steve LoCascio, who has supervised, CBS’ syndicated programs, said Monday he would retire.

“Ciprian-Matthews is a 30-year veteran of CBS News, having run operations in London and Washington, D.C., and worked on developing and recruiting CBS News staffers. She joined CBS in 1993 as a senior producer for live segments for its morning news programs. Before joining CBS News, Ciprian-Matthews was the managing editor of CNN’s New York bureau and a field producer, assignment manager and assignment editor for CNN. She started her career as a general assignment reporter for the National Public Radio Spanish-language news program ‘Enfoque Nacional.’ ”

Ciprian-Matthews was born in the Dominican Republic.

CNN’S New Lineup Features Rising Stars

“CNN on Monday announced a sweeping new lineup, elevating a new generation of rising stars to key time slots as it seeks to improve lackluster ratings and reboot its programming ahead of the 2024 presidential election,” Oliver Darcy reported Monday for CNN.

“The dramatic changes, which inject an added boost of diversity to the programming slate and will roll out in the coming weeks, are some of the most wide-ranging in the cable news landscape in years and represent a new chapter for CNN. The network has been aiming to reverse its fortunes after a tumultuous run under former chief executive Chris Licht, who was fired earlier this year after only a little more than a year on the job.

“CNN said Abby Phillip (pictured, above), the current host of ‘Inside Politics Sunday’ who has become an integral member of the network’s special political coverage in recent years, will anchor a 10 p.m. ET prime time program out of New York. At 11 p.m. ET, Laura Coates (pictured), the network’s recently promoted chief legal analyst, will helm a show from Washington.

“CNN, which appointed Kaitlan Collins to the 9 p.m ET slot earlier this year, notably said that it still plans to debut a limited series at that hour in the fall with Gayle King and Charles Barkley. . . .”

The Washington Post reports, “The remains are the unreconciled legacy of a grisly practice in which bodies and organs were taken from graveyards, battlefields, morgues and hospitals in more than 80 countries. The decades-long effort was financed and encouraged by the taxpayer-subsidized institution. . . .”

Museum Collected Brains From People of Color

“In a first-of-its-kind series, The Washington Post investigates the Smithsonian’s ‘Racial Brain Collection,’ assembling and making public the most extensive analysis and accounting of the collection to date,” the Post announced Monday.

“The Post’s year-long investigation found that the Smithsonian possesses 255 brains, most of which were removed upon death from Black, Indigenous people and other people of color in the early 20th century, and were used to further now-debunked theories about anatomical differences between races. The Post found the brains were likely taken without consent from individuals or their families. The museum’s ‘Racial Brain Collection’ is part of a larger collection that is one of the largest in the world, containing at least 30,700 human bones and body parts from more than 80 countries.

“The Post spent a year examining the collection, reviewing thousands of documents including studies, field notes and personal correspondence, and interviewed experts, Smithsonian officials, and descendants and members of communities whose remains were targeted for collection.

“Reporting, editing, production and support on ‘The Collection’ involved a team of more than 80 people, including 74 Post journalists and staffers, two independent contributors and four students from the American University-Washington Post practicum program.

“The Post’s investigation found the brains were collected from countries including the Philippines, Germany, the Czech Republic and South Africa. Many were also taken from Black residents in the Washington D.C. area. The scope of the brains collection has not previously been publicly disclosed. . . .”

A police raid on the Marion County (Kan.) Record and the home of the paper’s publisher is sparking a controversy involving small-town politics and the First Amendment. (Video by John Hanna/Associated Press)

Raid on Kansas Paper ‘Could Happen Anywhere’

“The First Amendment to our Constitution is often misunderstood. It was not written because the founders liked newspapers. Many of them did not. The goal was to make sure there would always be free voices, unfettered by government interference, to hold those in power accountable,” Hank Price wrote Tuesday for TVNewsCheck.

“Only by giving news media blanket protection could free voices be guaranteed. Over the years, courts have determined that the First Amendment also protects the process of news gathering, including such things as reporter notes and unfinished stories.

“All of this is why last week’s shocking Gestapo-like raid on the Marion County Kansas Record by local police and sheriff’s deputies is such an outrage. It was a gross violation of the entire point of the First Amendment, clearly designed to intimidate and chill the newspaper’s voice.

“The image of a police chief injuring a reporter as he wrestled her cell phone from her hand should send chills down every journalist’s spine. Adding tragedy to the terror, the paper’s 98-year-old publisher died of a heart attack the next day.

“If it could happen there, it could happen anywhere. . . .”

Police defended the raid in a Facebook posting Saturday in which they acknowledged that the federal Privacy Protection Act “does protect journalists from most searches of newsrooms” and “requires criminal investigators to get a subpoena instead of a search warrant when seeking ‘work product materials’ and ‘documentary materials’ from the press.” But they added that there is an exception “when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.”

“A lawyer for The Marion County Record demanded that the town’s Police Department not review any information on the devices it seized until a court hearing could be scheduled,” Katie Robertson reported Monday for The New York Times.

Among the statements of outrage from free press advocates was one from the Society of Professional Journalists, which offered to help cover up to $20,000 in legal fees for the newsroom.

On Wednesday, the News Leaders Association weighed in, saying, “There remain many questions about this case and the motivations for this illegal assault on the Marion County Record and established press freedoms. Let there be no question that the Record, along with news media throughout the nation, will not rest until the facts are gathered and the truth is exposed — without fear or favor.”

Columnist Frank E. Bolden recalled the FBI’s World War II visits to the California Eagle and the Pittsburgh Courier. The Courier wrote, “This sort of thing is an obvious effort to cow the Negro press into soft-pedaling its criticism and ending its forthright exposure of the outrageous discrimination to which Negroes have been subjected.” (Credit: U.S. Army Signal Corps)

Historically speaking, officials have found other ways to attempt to intimidate the press. In “A Question of Sedition: The Federal Government’s Investigation of the Black Press During World War II,” Patrick S. Washburn quoted Pittsburgh Courier columnist Frank Bolden (pictured, above), whose paper was subjected to one of many visits from the FBI to the Black press:

The agents “never harassed anybody or threatened anybody They just expressed that we protest [discrimination] in another way or wait until after the war. . . .

“[Executive Editor Percival Prattis] just called them scared white people. [FBI Director J. Edgar] Hoover’s flunkies. We all said that. We just considered them Nazi strong me. We just ignored them. I guess you could call it contempt. I understood why they came around. I thought it was a stupid waste of time and taxpayers’ money, but I could put myself in the white man’s shoes — he was saying, ‘We’d better investigate them niggers. [They] might be forming a Communist cell.’ But none of us feared them. When you’re not guilty, you have no fear.”

Sage Steele Leaving ESPN

“ESPN host Sage Steele (pictured) is exiting the channel after settling her lawsuit with the sports media giant,” Alex Weprin reported Tuesday for the Hollywood Reporter.

“ ‘ESPN and Sage Steele have mutually agreed to part ways. We thank her for her many contributions over the years,” an ESPN spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

“Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely,’ Steele shared on X/Twitter. ‘I am grateful for so many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!’

“Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

“Steele, an anchor on SportsCenter and a former host of NBA Countdown, sued ESPN and its owner The Walt Disney Co. last year for allegedly violating her free speech rights in retaliation for widely criticized comments she made on a podcast regarding the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and for comments about former President Barack Obama. . . .”

Blocked From DeSantis Rally

“Ron DeSantis’ Never Back Down super PAC shut journalists out of a recent rally in the Hawkeye State, and the Iowa Association of Black Journalists (IABJ) is not happy,” A.G. Gancarski reported Monday for Florida Politics.

“IABJ President Ty Rushing was blocked from a rally in Harlan, along with Kyle Kaminski, despite having press badges indicating they were part of the media. The group issued a statement saying they were ‘incensed’ by the treatment.” . . .

“The super PAC claims Rushing and Kaminski didn’t register as media.

“Rushing was wearing a press badge at the time, seemingly invalidating the claim. . . .”

Rushing posted a video of the incident on Twitter . . .

Dancers pose in a huddle formation for the Los Angeles Times’ 1982 series “Black L.A.: Looking at Diversity.” (Credit: Cyrena Chang / Los Angeles Times)

L.A. Times Series by Blacks, Latinos Were Catalysts

“More than four decades ago, groups of Black and Latino journalists embarked on an endeavor to tell stories about their communities that the Los Angeles Times was failing to showcase,” Chelsea Hyltons reported Monday for the Los Angeles Times. “Little did they know that 40 years later the reporting they did and the stories they told would still have a legacy of perseverance.

“Two projects that were the first of their kind were published in The Times in consecutive years. In 1982, ‘Black L.A.: Looking at Diversity’ aimed to tell the stories of Black Angelenos. The following year the series on Southern California’s Latino community was published, and would go on to win the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. These projects not only set the precedent for diversity initiatives at The Times but they also helped change long-standing misconceptions of L.A.‘s communities of color. (Image: Steve Lopez’s original 1983 logo for The Times’ “Latinos” series.)

“Until 2020, the Latinos series was not available online until a group of journalists at The Times saw the foundational significance the series had. They worked to upload the articles, photographs and other documents to make the series accessible to future generations.

“Although change was not immediate after the publication of these projects, they were catalysts for conversations and have acted as role models for advancements like ‘Behold,’ which shares stories, portraits and videos inspired by Black joy, and De Los, which aims at covering topics on culture and identity for U.S. Latinos. It was heroic of those journalists 40 years ago who demanded more and wanted to share stories that deserved to be told. . . .

El Salvador Leader Creates ‘Informational Echo Chamber’

“Douglas Guzmán’s TikTok feed was dotted with workout routines and videos showcasing his favorite parts of his country,” Megan Janetsky reported Sunday from San Salvador, El Salvador, for the Associated Press.

“That changed about a year ago, as rights groups, civil society and even some officials criticized El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele (pictured) for violating human rights in his crackdown on criminal gangs, and said that his unconstitutional bid for re-election would corrode the country’s democracy.

“Within days of Bukele announcing his bid for a second five-year term, Guzmán’s feed was plastered with videos describing Bukele as the ‘future liberator of Latin America’ and slick montages of the leader’s ‘mega-prison’ for accused gangsters.

“Views on the social media influencer’s videos skyrocketed. The 39-year-old member of Bukele’s party said he found a new mission: counteracting negative press from independent media about his populist president.

“ ‘(Journalists) don’t know anything. All they do is sit at their desks and watch as President Bukele … makes a massive effort to save thousands of lives. But they don’t see that because they’ve never cared about the lives of Salvadorans,’ Guzmán said. ‘That’s why we’re here. To show the true reality.’

“Guzmán is part of an expanding network of social media personalities acting as a megaphone for the millennial leader. At the same time Bukele has cracked down on the press, his government has embraced those influencers. As the president seeks to hold onto power, he has harnessed that flood of pro-Bukele content slowly turning his Central American nation into an informational echo chamber. . . .”

The Committee to Protect Journalists adds, “El Salvador has been in a state of emergency since the end of March 2022 following an escalation in homicides attributed to gangs. According to news reports, the government has detained more than 65,000 people since then. In March, local human rights groups said that at least 5,082 people had their rights violated during the crackdown, mainly due to arbitrary detentions.”

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