El Espectador
Encyclopedia
El Espectador is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia
, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez
on 22 March 1887 in Medellín
and published since 1915 in Bogotá
. It changed from a daily to a weekly edition in 2001, following a financial crisis, and became a daily again on 11 May 2008, a comeback which had been long rumoured, in tabloid format (28 x 39.5 cm). Since 1997 its main shareholder is Julio Mario Santo Domingo
.
It is the oldest newspaper in Colombia. Since its first issue its motto has been "El Espectador will work for the good of the country with liberal criteria and for the good of the liberal principles with patriotic criteria". It was initially published twice a week, 500 issues each. It defined itself as a "political, literary, news and industrial newspaper". Years later it became a daily and in 2001 became a weekly. Since then, the paper uses the slogan "El Espectador. Opinion is news", implying it now focuses in opinion articles
, not in breaking news
. This focus was kept when it regained its daily format on 11 May 2008.
In 1994, after conducting a survey, Le Monde
considered El Espectador one of the best eight daily newspapers in the world, along with The New York Times
(United States), Financial Times
(United Kingdom), Izvestia
(Russia), People's Daily
(China), Al Ahram (Egypt), Asahi Shimbun
(Japan), and Times of India.
According to the latest Estudio General de Medios (EGM – Segunda Ola 2007 (II-2007)), El Espectador has 687,900 readers every week. It is a member of the Inter American Press Association and the Asociación de Diarios Colombianos (ANDIARIOS).
In 2007, its publisher Fidel Cano Correa said he did not agree with current President Álvaro Uribe Vélez's personal behaviour and government style, but he specified that was his own position and not the newspaper's.
, at the time opposed to the administrations of the conservative
Regeneration. It was closed by the authorities several times:
Since 10 February 1915 El Espectador has been simultaneously published in Medellín and Bogotá
. Its Medellín edition was suspended on 20 July 1923.
In 1948, after the murder
of Liberal Party leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitán
, its circulation was suspended for three days. Since then, El Espectador has had to deal with the censorship
of the then ruling Conservative Party several times. On 9 November 1949, Luis Cano Villegas, its director, resigned in protest for the seizure of the entire edition by the government, being replaced by his brother Gabriel Cano Villegas. On 6 September 1952, its facilities, then located in downtown Bogotá, as well as the building of competitor El Tiempo and the houses of Liberal Party leaders Eduardo Santos
and Carlos Lleras Restrepo
, were looted and partially destroyed, apparently with the tacit consent of the government. It reappeared on 16 September.
In 1955 the newspaper, outspokenly opposed to the military government of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
, publishing several articles by Alberto Lleras Camargo
, with a substantial effect on public opinion
. In December, the government accused El Espectador of several accounting and tax irregularities, and fined the newspaper $10,000 on 20 December 1955. On 6 January 1956 the National Taxes Direction imposed on El Espectador a fine of $600,000. Its directors, who were forbidden to respond to the accusations against the paper, suspended its publication that day.
In order to replace El Espectador, on 15 February 1956 appeared El Independiente, directed by Alberto Lleras Camargo, who retired in April when the newspaper was closed for several months. It was published again in 1957 but due to an agreement by the opposition newspapers, it suspended its publication on 5 May. Five days later, Rojas Pinilla was ousted. El Independiente circulated until 1 June 1958, when it was formally replaced by El Espectador.
In 1964 its headquarters moved from downtown to western Bogotá, on the avenida 68, the area becoming known as Avenida El Espectador. At the inauguration, its then director Gabriel Cano said: "if El Tiempo has the best corner in Bogotá, El Espectador has the best corner in the country."
Throughout the 20th century El Espectador was the main Liberal newspaper, with El Tiempo, both holding an important political influence. Among its main contributors it had some of the most important Colombian journalists at the time, like Luis Eduardo Nieto Caballero, Alberto Lleras Camargo
, Eduardo Zalamea Borda, Gabriel García Márquez
, Eduardo Caballero Calderón
, Klim, Antonio Panesso Robledo, Inés de Montaña, Alfonso Castillo Gómez, José Salgar, as well as cartoon
ists Hernán Merino, Pepón, Consuelo Lago, and Osuna.
, which preferred to remain silent instead of denouncing the atrocities happening in the country. In the early 1980s, the daily published several articles denouncing illegal loans and other irregularities allegedly performed by the Grupo Grancolombiano, one of the most powerful financial groups at the time. As retaliation, several big companies pulled their ads from the paper, which was already facing some financial issues. El Espectador disputed accusations made against it and dedicated an editorial piece to its credibility and the credibility of the financial groups.
El Espectador also demanded in its editorials freedom of the press
and denounced the political censorship the independent media outlets had to deal with to avoid being closed, stating that "not even in the worst times of press censorship or political retaliation, some resorted to crime in order to silence the press, in one of its more noble and higher democratic
functions." It recognized that in Colombia "the death penalty ordered and executed from the lowest social holes has become an habit, as a revenge against the work of social sanity the press is committed to." It concluded saying that "the feeling of siege and danger —on the press— would be negatively reflected on the whole democratic system."
The newspaper rejected being considered as "subversive opposition" and criticized Liberal president Julio César Turbay Ayala
's government, which by its words wished to "have a totally loyal, extremely pro-government press, not silenced but flattering." To defend itself, the paper published 15 July 1979 a column named Si eso es opposición... ("If that's opposition...") In the same text, the newspaper declared itself "neutral", considering that a democracy should not be polarized
, "because in the times we are living, newspapers are increasingly more independent from governments, more devoted entirely to report and guide according to their honest knowledge and understanding," adding that the "unanimous, one-way, uniformed, official press is (intended) for dictatorship
s and not for democracies... and we believe that Colombia is still a democracy."
El Espectador also criticized, openly, drug trafficking:
On 17 December 1986, the then director of El Espectador, Guillermo Cano Isaza
, was assassinated in front of the newspaper offices by gunmen paid by Pablo Escobar
, after publishing several articles critical of Colombia's drug barons. Cano left the headquarters around 19:00 in his family station wagon
. After he made a U-turn on the Avenida El Espectador, one of the hitmen approached the wagon Cano was driving, shot him in the chest eight times, and then fled on a motorcycle
identified with the licence plate FAX84. Cano was 61 years old, and had been a journalist for 44 years. His murder is still considered unpunished. The next day, El Espectadors main headline
was Seguimos adelante ("We are going on").
The World Press Freedom Prize
, awarded annually by UNESCO
since 1997, is named in his honour, for "his courage, his compromise with independent journalism and the tenacity with which he fought for his country", which "are an example for the rest of the world to follow. Guillermo Cano's fate exemplifies the price paid by journalists the world over in exercising their profession; journalists are imprisoned and ill-treated every day and the fact that these crimes, for the most part, go unpunished is even more alarming."
On 2 September 1989 the paper's offices were bombed by the Medellín Cartel
. The blast occurred around 06:30; it blew the building's roof up, destroyed the main entry and affected the newspaper's production. The bomb was hidden in a van
parked minutes before it exploded in front of the main entry. The same day, 6 armed men broke into an exclusive island in Islas del Rosario
, near Cartagena de Indias, and set fire to the Cano family's summer house.
issued a letter of protest
to Interior Minister
Humberto de La Calle Lombana
, on the kidnapping of journalist Jineth Bedoya, at the time working for El Espectador, allegedly carried out by members of the paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC). Robert Ménard, RWB's secretary general, "stated that he was "scandalised" by this latest attack on Bedoya". She would later join El Tiempo.
On 23 August 1999, a group called Colombian Rebel Army (ERC) published a communiqué issuing death threat
s against 21 personalities engaged in the then ongoing peace process, accusing them of "promoting war between Colombians". Among those personalities two El Espectador contributors were mentioned, Alfredo Molano y Arturo Alape. On 19 January 1999, Molano left the country (he would return years later). Molano had condemned the massacre of 130 people perpetrated weeks before by members of AUC commanded by Carlos Castaño
, who had referred to Molano as "paraguerrilla". On 18 September, Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, who had worked for El Espectador and RCN Radio
, went into exile
.
Between February and May 2000, journalist Ignacio Gómez received at least 56 threatening letters. In an article published by El Espectador, Gómez had revealed that a massacre where 49 peasants were killed was perpetrated by paramilitary militias supported by members of the Colombian Army
. After escaping a kidnapping attempt in Bogotá on 24 May, Gómez sought refuge in the United States on 1 June 2000. He would return to Colombia one year later and become part of Noticias Uno
TV newscast.
On 21 March 2003 columnist Fernando Garavito left Colombia for the United States, after several death threats. He denounced human rights violations by AUC, as well as the alleged tolerance on drug barons in the past by the then presidential candidate Álvaro Uribe Vélez. On 8 February 2003 photojournalist Herminso Ruiz was beaten and had his camera
confiscated by members of the Colombian National Police
while he was covering El Nogal club bombing
. The incident was contempt by organizations as RWB.
On May 2003 the newspaper, through an editorial written by its then director Ricardo Santamaría, reported on "interference" on an investigation it was carrying on the alleged irregularities in Banco del Pacífico, claiming that Police intelligence officials had obtained access to a draft of the report and sent it, through the Colombian National Police director, Teodoro Campo, to the then Interior Minister Fernando Londoño, who was a chairman of the bank. Organizations defending freedom of the press expressed their contempt and their "deep concern". Campo denied any involvement, while minister Londoño claimed the draft was sent anonymously to him.
On 18 November 2004, a Bogotá court sentenced columnist and film director
Lisandro Duque to three days in jail and a 470 euro
s fine, for not publishing a rectification after a sentence for defamation, when in column published 13 April 2003 Duque criticized Claudia Triana de Vargas, manager of a film production company. Instead of rectifying, Duque wrote in a piece published 7 September that he had "no enough evidence" to support his criticism. Duque appealed the court sentence.
On 7 March 2008 elespectador.com was revamped, setting up four "editions": online, latest news, news map and print version. It also improved the registration system and the RSS feeds, and added tag
s, audio
, and video
s taken from Noticias Caracol
, newscast from sister network Caracol TV
, uploaded to its YouTube
channel. The website is built with Drupal
. Elespectador.com received the Colombian Chamber of Computing and Telecommunications's Premio Colombia en Línea 2008 award to the best online news website in the country.
, after El Tiempo, the financial difficulties worsened and in 1997 the Cano family sold most of their shares in Comunican S.A., El Espectador publishing company, to Julio Mario Santo Domingo
, who at the time owned Cromos
, Caracol Radio
(later sold to Spanish group PRISA
) and Caracol TV. Its headquarters moved to the Avenida El Dorado. In September 2001 El Espectador became a weekly newspaper.
RWB stated that "media diversity suffered a heavy blow" when the newspaper "downgraded itself to a weekly."
The Cali
newspaper El País said: "El Espectador is a standard in defence of freedom, the fight against drug trafficking and corruption."
Since then, their editors Rodrigo Pardo, Carlos Lleras de la Fuente, Ricardo Santamaría, and
Fidel Cano Correa
tried to recover the financial balance and the newspaper's circulation. As a weekly, it was published on Saturdays, with Sunday's date. Counting with the free time readers have available on weekends, El Espectador focused on opinion, investigation, and analysis pieces, recovering its circulation, influence, and earnings.
In 2007 Fidel Cano Correa stated in an interview with Revista Semana
that "[the return to a daily edition] is just a possibility. We have doing very well during the last three years, especially the last one." The Spanish group PRISA was considered as an strategic partner, but the negotiation failed when Santo Domingo refused to cede the control of the paper to PRISA. On 11 May 2008 El Espectador became a daily again, changing from broadsheet
to tabloid format.
Thursday: Deportes (Sports)
Wednesday: Internacional (World news)
Thursday: Vivir (Living)
Friday: Cultura (Culture)
Saturday: Gente (People)
It also publishes three magazines, published once in a month each: Autos/Motos, Espacios, and Discovery Health. On Mondays El Espectador publishes a 6-page edition of The New York Times International Weekly
, and on Tuesdays a two-paged Fox Sports minisection. It also syndicates
articles from Harvard Business Review
and El País.
's Mercury and Gotham
typeface
s since then.
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez
Fidel Cano Gutiérrez
Fidel Cano Gutiérrez was a Colombian journalist, founder of El Espectador, Colombia's oldest newspaper....
on 22 March 1887 in Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
and published since 1915 in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
. It changed from a daily to a weekly edition in 2001, following a financial crisis, and became a daily again on 11 May 2008, a comeback which had been long rumoured, in tabloid format (28 x 39.5 cm). Since 1997 its main shareholder is Julio Mario Santo Domingo
Julio Mario Santo Domingo
Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo was a Colombian businessman and patriarch of the wealthy Santo Domingo family. He was the son of Mario Santo Domingo and Beatriz Pumarejo...
.
It is the oldest newspaper in Colombia. Since its first issue its motto has been "El Espectador will work for the good of the country with liberal criteria and for the good of the liberal principles with patriotic criteria". It was initially published twice a week, 500 issues each. It defined itself as a "political, literary, news and industrial newspaper". Years later it became a daily and in 2001 became a weekly. Since then, the paper uses the slogan "El Espectador. Opinion is news", implying it now focuses in opinion articles
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
, not in breaking news
Breaking news
Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...
. This focus was kept when it regained its daily format on 11 May 2008.
In 1994, after conducting a survey, Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
considered El Espectador one of the best eight daily newspapers in the world, along with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
(United States), Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
(United Kingdom), Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
(Russia), People's Daily
People's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
(China), Al Ahram (Egypt), Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...
(Japan), and Times of India.
According to the latest Estudio General de Medios (EGM – Segunda Ola 2007 (II-2007)), El Espectador has 687,900 readers every week. It is a member of the Inter American Press Association and the Asociación de Diarios Colombianos (ANDIARIOS).
In 2007, its publisher Fidel Cano Correa said he did not agree with current President Álvaro Uribe Vélez's personal behaviour and government style, but he specified that was his own position and not the newspaper's.
History
Since its foundation in 1887, El Espectador acted as a speaker for the Colombian Liberal PartyColombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party is a center-left party in Colombia that adheres to social democracy and social liberalism.The Party was founded in 1848 and, together with the Colombian Conservative Party, subsequently became one of the two main political forces in the country for over a century.After...
, at the time opposed to the administrations of the conservative
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party , is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was unofficially founded by a group of Revolutionary Commoners during the Revolutionary War for Independence from the Spanish Monarchy and later formally established during the Greater Colombia...
Regeneration. It was closed by the authorities several times:
- 8 July 1887, by the Rafael NúñezRafael Núñez (politician)Rafael Wenceslao Núñez Moledo was a Colombian author, lawyer, journalist and politician, who was elected President of Colombia in 1880 and in 1884. Rafael Núñez was born in Cartagena de Indias, on September 28, 1825. He died in Cartagena on September 18, 1894.-Early life:Little is known about the...
administration, 134 days after its first issue, until 10 January 1888. - 27 October 1888, by the then designated Carlos Holguín, until 12 February 1891; previously, the Catholic Church had forbidden its followers to read the newspaper, because of criticism of the lavishness of the Catholic Church in public celebrations made by its director.
- On 26 September 1892 the government fined the newspaper with $Colombian pesoThe peso is the currency of Colombia. Its ISO 4217 code is COP and it is also informally abbreviated as COL$. However, the official peso symbol is $. As 20 July 2011, the exchange rate of the Colombian peso is 1750 Colombian pesos to 1 U.S. dollar.-History:The peso has been the currency of Colombia...
200.000 after considering one of its articles "subversive". - 8 August 1893, by AntioquiaAntioquia DepartmentAntioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range...
governor Abraham García, until 14 March 1896. Fidel Cano Gutiérrez was jailed. - On 27 June 1896, until 27 April 1897, due to a press law recently passed by the Congress.
- The outbreak of the Thousand Days WarThousand Days WarThe Thousand Days' War , was a civil armed conflict in the newly created Republic of Colombia, between the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and its radical factions. In 1899 the ruling conservatives were accused of maintaining power through fraudulent elections...
made El Espectador suspend its activities between 19 October 1899 and 16 October 1903 - On 17 December 1904 it was suspended again, after facing difficulties and opposing the Rafael ReyesRafael ReyesRafael Reyes Prieto was Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia .- Biographic data :...
administration. It appeared again on 2 January 1913, as a evening daily in MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
.
Since 10 February 1915 El Espectador has been simultaneously published in Medellín and Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
. Its Medellín edition was suspended on 20 July 1923.
In 1948, after the murder
Bogotazo
El Bogotazo refers to the massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948 during the government of President Mariano Ospina Pérez...
of Liberal Party leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala was a politician, a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, a former Education Minister and Labor Minister , mayor of Bogotá and one of the most charismatic leaders of the Liberal Party.He was assassinated during his second presidential campaign in 1948, setting off...
, its circulation was suspended for three days. Since then, El Espectador has had to deal with the censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
of the then ruling Conservative Party several times. On 9 November 1949, Luis Cano Villegas, its director, resigned in protest for the seizure of the entire edition by the government, being replaced by his brother Gabriel Cano Villegas. On 6 September 1952, its facilities, then located in downtown Bogotá, as well as the building of competitor El Tiempo and the houses of Liberal Party leaders Eduardo Santos
Eduardo Santos
Eduardo Santos Montejo was a leading Colombian publisher and politician, active in the Colombian Liberal Party. He owned the prominent Bogotá newspaper El Tiempo, and served as the President of Colombia from August 1938 to August 1942.Santos was close friends with the Venezuelan Ambassador in...
and Carlos Lleras Restrepo
Carlos Lleras Restrepo
Carlos Lleras Restrepo was a Colombian lawyer and political figure, President of Colombia .- Biographic data :...
, were looted and partially destroyed, apparently with the tacit consent of the government. It reappeared on 16 September.
In 1955 the newspaper, outspokenly opposed to the military government of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was a Colombian politician, military officer, General of the Army and President of Colombia between 1953 and 1957.- Biographic data :...
, publishing several articles by Alberto Lleras Camargo
Alberto Lleras Camargo
Alberto Lleras Camargo was an important Colombian diplomat and political figure.He was a member of the Liberal Party of Colombia; he served as congressman , Minister of Education, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the governments of Alfonso López Pumarejo and Eduardo...
, with a substantial effect on public opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
. In December, the government accused El Espectador of several accounting and tax irregularities, and fined the newspaper $10,000 on 20 December 1955. On 6 January 1956 the National Taxes Direction imposed on El Espectador a fine of $600,000. Its directors, who were forbidden to respond to the accusations against the paper, suspended its publication that day.
In order to replace El Espectador, on 15 February 1956 appeared El Independiente, directed by Alberto Lleras Camargo, who retired in April when the newspaper was closed for several months. It was published again in 1957 but due to an agreement by the opposition newspapers, it suspended its publication on 5 May. Five days later, Rojas Pinilla was ousted. El Independiente circulated until 1 June 1958, when it was formally replaced by El Espectador.
In 1964 its headquarters moved from downtown to western Bogotá, on the avenida 68, the area becoming known as Avenida El Espectador. At the inauguration, its then director Gabriel Cano said: "if El Tiempo has the best corner in Bogotá, El Espectador has the best corner in the country."
Throughout the 20th century El Espectador was the main Liberal newspaper, with El Tiempo, both holding an important political influence. Among its main contributors it had some of the most important Colombian journalists at the time, like Luis Eduardo Nieto Caballero, Alberto Lleras Camargo
Alberto Lleras Camargo
Alberto Lleras Camargo was an important Colombian diplomat and political figure.He was a member of the Liberal Party of Colombia; he served as congressman , Minister of Education, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the governments of Alfonso López Pumarejo and Eduardo...
, Eduardo Zalamea Borda, Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
, Eduardo Caballero Calderón
Eduardo Caballero Calderón
Eduardo Caballero Calderón was a Colombian journalist and writer. As journalist, he worked to the main Colombian newspapers, such as El Tiempo and El Espectador. Also he was a diplomat from Colombia in Peru, Argentina, Spain and France...
, Klim, Antonio Panesso Robledo, Inés de Montaña, Alfonso Castillo Gómez, José Salgar, as well as cartoon
Editorial cartoon
An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities....
ists Hernán Merino, Pepón, Consuelo Lago, and Osuna.
Journalism of ideas
During the 20th century El Espectador criticized other mass media in ColombiaMedia in Colombia
Media in Colombia refers to Media available in Colombia consisting of several different types of communications media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Web sites...
, which preferred to remain silent instead of denouncing the atrocities happening in the country. In the early 1980s, the daily published several articles denouncing illegal loans and other irregularities allegedly performed by the Grupo Grancolombiano, one of the most powerful financial groups at the time. As retaliation, several big companies pulled their ads from the paper, which was already facing some financial issues. El Espectador disputed accusations made against it and dedicated an editorial piece to its credibility and the credibility of the financial groups.
El Espectador also demanded in its editorials freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
and denounced the political censorship the independent media outlets had to deal with to avoid being closed, stating that "not even in the worst times of press censorship or political retaliation, some resorted to crime in order to silence the press, in one of its more noble and higher democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
functions." It recognized that in Colombia "the death penalty ordered and executed from the lowest social holes has become an habit, as a revenge against the work of social sanity the press is committed to." It concluded saying that "the feeling of siege and danger —on the press— would be negatively reflected on the whole democratic system."
The newspaper rejected being considered as "subversive opposition" and criticized Liberal president Julio César Turbay Ayala
Julio César Turbay Ayala
Julio César Turbay Ayala was a Colombian politician, member of the Colombian Liberal Party, elected president of the Senate of Colombia and and, was president of Colombia from 1978 to 1982.- Biographic data :...
's government, which by its words wished to "have a totally loyal, extremely pro-government press, not silenced but flattering." To defend itself, the paper published 15 July 1979 a column named Si eso es opposición... ("If that's opposition...") In the same text, the newspaper declared itself "neutral", considering that a democracy should not be polarized
Polarization (politics)
In politics, polarization is the process by which the public opinion divides and goes to the extremes. It can also refer to when the extreme factions of a political party gain dominance in a party. In either case moderate voices often lose power and influence as a consequence.-Definitions of...
, "because in the times we are living, newspapers are increasingly more independent from governments, more devoted entirely to report and guide according to their honest knowledge and understanding," adding that the "unanimous, one-way, uniformed, official press is (intended) for dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
s and not for democracies... and we believe that Colombia is still a democracy."
El Espectador also criticized, openly, drug trafficking:
Guillermo Cano's murder
As stated before, El Espectador stood firm against drug trafficking and often published articles on its crimes.On 17 December 1986, the then director of El Espectador, Guillermo Cano Isaza
Guillermo Cano Isaza
Guillermo Cano Isaza was a Colombian journalist.The editor of the daily El Espectador, he was murdered in front of the paper's offices by two hitmen linked to Colombia's drug cartels...
, was assassinated in front of the newspaper offices by gunmen paid by Pablo Escobar
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord. He was an elusive cocaine trafficker and rich and successful criminal. He owned numerous luxury residences, automobiles, and even airplanes...
, after publishing several articles critical of Colombia's drug barons. Cano left the headquarters around 19:00 in his family station wagon
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
. After he made a U-turn on the Avenida El Espectador, one of the hitmen approached the wagon Cano was driving, shot him in the chest eight times, and then fled on a motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
identified with the licence plate FAX84. Cano was 61 years old, and had been a journalist for 44 years. His murder is still considered unpunished. The next day, El Espectadors main headline
Headline
The headline is the text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it.It is sometimes termed a news hed, a deliberate misspelling that dates from production flow during hot type days, to notify the composing room that a written note from an editor concerned a...
was Seguimos adelante ("We are going on").
The World Press Freedom Prize
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, created in 1997, honours a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger.The...
, awarded annually by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
since 1997, is named in his honour, for "his courage, his compromise with independent journalism and the tenacity with which he fought for his country", which "are an example for the rest of the world to follow. Guillermo Cano's fate exemplifies the price paid by journalists the world over in exercising their profession; journalists are imprisoned and ill-treated every day and the fact that these crimes, for the most part, go unpunished is even more alarming."
On 2 September 1989 the paper's offices were bombed by the Medellín Cartel
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
. The blast occurred around 06:30; it blew the building's roof up, destroyed the main entry and affected the newspaper's production. The bomb was hidden in a van
Van
A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...
parked minutes before it exploded in front of the main entry. The same day, 6 armed men broke into an exclusive island in Islas del Rosario
Islas del Rosario
The Islas del Rosario is one of the 46 Natural National Parks of Colombia, created in order to protect one of the most important coral reefs of the Colombian Caribbean coast.-Characteristics:...
, near Cartagena de Indias, and set fire to the Cano family's summer house.
Defence of the freedom of the press
On 29 May 2000 Reporters Without BordersReporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
issued a letter of protest
Letter of Protest
A letter of protest or diplomatic note is a diplomatic document presented by one state's foreign ministry to another state.A letter of protest is written in a highly formal manner, intended to be both courteous and critical at the same time...
to Interior Minister
Ministry of the Interior and Justice
The Ministry of the Interior and Justice , is the national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice and interior ministries of other countries....
Humberto de La Calle Lombana
Humberto De la Calle
Humberto De la Calle Lombana is a Colombian lawyer and politician. He served as Vice President of Colombia from 1994 to 1997.-Education:...
, on the kidnapping of journalist Jineth Bedoya, at the time working for El Espectador, allegedly carried out by members of the paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC). Robert Ménard, RWB's secretary general, "stated that he was "scandalised" by this latest attack on Bedoya". She would later join El Tiempo.
On 23 August 1999, a group called Colombian Rebel Army (ERC) published a communiqué issuing death threat
Death threat
A death threat is a threat of death, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion...
s against 21 personalities engaged in the then ongoing peace process, accusing them of "promoting war between Colombians". Among those personalities two El Espectador contributors were mentioned, Alfredo Molano y Arturo Alape. On 19 January 1999, Molano left the country (he would return years later). Molano had condemned the massacre of 130 people perpetrated weeks before by members of AUC commanded by Carlos Castaño
Carlos Castaño
Carlos Castaño Gil was the founder of the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Córdoba and Urabá , an extreme right paramilitary organization in Colombia...
, who had referred to Molano as "paraguerrilla". On 18 September, Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, who had worked for El Espectador and RCN Radio
RCN Radio
RCN Radio is one of the main radio networks in Colombia. Founded in 1949 with the integration of Radio Pacífico , La Voz de Medellín' and Emisora Nueva Granada ....
, went into exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
.
Between February and May 2000, journalist Ignacio Gómez received at least 56 threatening letters. In an article published by El Espectador, Gómez had revealed that a massacre where 49 peasants were killed was perpetrated by paramilitary militias supported by members of the Colombian Army
Colombian Army
The National Army of Colombia is the land military force of the government of Colombia and the largest service of the Colombian Armed Forces...
. After escaping a kidnapping attempt in Bogotá on 24 May, Gómez sought refuge in the United States on 1 June 2000. He would return to Colombia one year later and become part of Noticias Uno
Noticias Uno
Noticias Uno is a nightly Colombian newscast produced by NTC Televisión and aired weekends and holidays on state-owned privately-run Canal Uno....
TV newscast.
On 21 March 2003 columnist Fernando Garavito left Colombia for the United States, after several death threats. He denounced human rights violations by AUC, as well as the alleged tolerance on drug barons in the past by the then presidential candidate Álvaro Uribe Vélez. On 8 February 2003 photojournalist Herminso Ruiz was beaten and had his camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
confiscated by members of the Colombian National Police
Colombian National Police
The National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military of Colombia , it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. They are the largest police force in Colombia...
while he was covering El Nogal club bombing
2003 El Nogal Club bombing
The 2003 El Nogal Club bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred in Bogotá, Colombia. On February 7, 2003, a car containing 200 kg of explosives that was parked in a garage on the third floor of the multi-story El Nogal club exploded, killing 36 people and wounding more than 200. There were...
. The incident was contempt by organizations as RWB.
On May 2003 the newspaper, through an editorial written by its then director Ricardo Santamaría, reported on "interference" on an investigation it was carrying on the alleged irregularities in Banco del Pacífico, claiming that Police intelligence officials had obtained access to a draft of the report and sent it, through the Colombian National Police director, Teodoro Campo, to the then Interior Minister Fernando Londoño, who was a chairman of the bank. Organizations defending freedom of the press expressed their contempt and their "deep concern". Campo denied any involvement, while minister Londoño claimed the draft was sent anonymously to him.
On 18 November 2004, a Bogotá court sentenced columnist and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Lisandro Duque to three days in jail and a 470 euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s fine, for not publishing a rectification after a sentence for defamation, when in column published 13 April 2003 Duque criticized Claudia Triana de Vargas, manager of a film production company. Instead of rectifying, Duque wrote in a piece published 7 September that he had "no enough evidence" to support his criticism. Duque appealed the court sentence.
Presence on the web
On 29 May 1996 the then daily newspaper launched its website elespectador.com. Its design format and layout have been changed several times In 2006 later added the .com to its logo, comments to the articles and user registration. Access hits to Elespectador.com grew 79% in 2007.On 7 March 2008 elespectador.com was revamped, setting up four "editions": online, latest news, news map and print version. It also improved the registration system and the RSS feeds, and added tag
Tag (metadata)
In online computer systems terminology, a tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information . This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching...
s, audio
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
, and video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
s taken from Noticias Caracol
Noticias Caracol
Noticias Caracol is Colombia's Caracol TV newscast. It is broadcast four times on weekdays and twice on weekends.The News Centre was built in nine months before Caracol Noticias first airing, on 10 July 1998...
, newscast from sister network Caracol TV
Caracol TV
Caracol Televisión is a Colombian private national television network, owned by Julio Mario Santo Domingo.- History :Caracol Televisión started in 1954 when Organización de Radiodifusora Caracol offered to afford national television costs, then state-run, through commercial spots...
, uploaded to its YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel. The website is built with Drupal
Drupal
Drupal is a free and open-source content management system and content management framework written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is used as a back-end system for at least 1.5% of all websites worldwide ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and...
. Elespectador.com received the Colombian Chamber of Computing and Telecommunications's Premio Colombia en Línea 2008 award to the best online news website in the country.
From daily to weekly
Despite El Espectador had been the Colombian newspaper with the second highest circulationNewspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
, after El Tiempo, the financial difficulties worsened and in 1997 the Cano family sold most of their shares in Comunican S.A., El Espectador publishing company, to Julio Mario Santo Domingo
Julio Mario Santo Domingo
Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo was a Colombian businessman and patriarch of the wealthy Santo Domingo family. He was the son of Mario Santo Domingo and Beatriz Pumarejo...
, who at the time owned Cromos
Revista Cromos
Revista Cromos is a Colombian varieties and photojournalism magazine, known for widely covering the Miss Colombia pageant on editions called Mini Cromos. It was founded in 1916 by Miguel Santiago Valencia and Abelardo Arboleda, both from the Colombian city of Popayán...
, Caracol Radio
Caracol Radio
Caracol Radio is one of the main radio networks in Colombia. Founded in Medellín in 1948 when La Voz de Antioquia station acquired the 50% of Emisoras Nuevo Mundo, based in Bogotá....
(later sold to Spanish group PRISA
PRISA
Promotora de Informaciones, S.A is a Spanish media conglomerate. The PRISA group was founded in 1972 by Jesús de Polanco.-Newspapers:* El País, daily newspaper* Diario AS sports newspaper* Cinco Días economic newspaper-Magazines:...
) and Caracol TV. Its headquarters moved to the Avenida El Dorado. In September 2001 El Espectador became a weekly newspaper.
RWB stated that "media diversity suffered a heavy blow" when the newspaper "downgraded itself to a weekly."
The Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
newspaper El País said: "El Espectador is a standard in defence of freedom, the fight against drug trafficking and corruption."
Since then, their editors Rodrigo Pardo, Carlos Lleras de la Fuente, Ricardo Santamaría, and
Fidel Cano Correa
Fidel Cano Correa
Fidel Cano Correa is a Colombian journalist, born 23 November 1965 in Bogotá. Since May 2004 he is the publisher of El Espectador, Colombia's oldest newspaper....
tried to recover the financial balance and the newspaper's circulation. As a weekly, it was published on Saturdays, with Sunday's date. Counting with the free time readers have available on weekends, El Espectador focused on opinion, investigation, and analysis pieces, recovering its circulation, influence, and earnings.
In 2007 Fidel Cano Correa stated in an interview with Revista Semana
Revista Semana
Semana or Revista Semana is a Colombian-based weekly magazine. It was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo , but was shut down after a controversial cover depicting Cuban leader Fidel Castro.In 1983, journalist Felipe López Caballero re-founded the magazine...
that "[the return to a daily edition] is just a possibility. We have doing very well during the last three years, especially the last one." The Spanish group PRISA was considered as an strategic partner, but the negotiation failed when Santo Domingo refused to cede the control of the paper to PRISA. On 11 May 2008 El Espectador became a daily again, changing from broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
to tabloid format.
Daily focus, supplements, and alliances
Every day of the week, except Sunday, El Espectador devotes around 10 pages to a specific "focus":- Monday:
It also publishes three magazines, published once in a month each: Autos/Motos, Espacios, and Discovery Health. On Mondays El Espectador publishes a 6-page edition of The New York Times International Weekly
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, and on Tuesdays a two-paged Fox Sports minisection. It also syndicates
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
articles from Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is a general management magazine published since 1922 by Harvard Business School Publishing, owned by the Harvard Business School. A monthly research-based magazine written for business practitioners, it claims a high ranking business readership among academics, executives,...
and El País.
Design
Since 2004, Lucie Lacava's Lacava Design has been in charge of El Espectadors design for its print edition. El Espectador uses Hoefler & Frere-JonesHoefler & Frere-Jones
Hoefler & Frere-Jones is an influential type foundry in New York City, run by designers Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones. With both their similarities and their likings it was only a matter of time that both their paths would come across and would have became business partners. Both Hoefler...
's Mercury and Gotham
Gotham (typeface)
Gotham is a family of geometric sans-serif digital typefaces designed by American type designer Tobias Frere-Jones in 2000. Gotham's letterforms are inspired by a form of architectural signage that achieved popularity in the mid-twentieth century, and are especially popular throughout New York...
typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
s since then.
Current management and employees
Editorial board
- Héctor Abad FaciolinceHéctor Abad FaciolinceHéctor Abad Faciolince is a Colombian novelist, essayist, journalist, and editor. Abad is considered one of the most talented "post-boom" writers in Latin American literature. Abad is best known for his bestselling novels Angosta, and more recently, El Olvido que Seremos Héctor Abad Faciolince...
- Ramiro Bejarano
- Alejandro GaviriaAlejandro GaviriaAlejandro Gaviria Uribe is a Colombian economist and development specialist, and current Dean of the Department of Economics at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá...
- Armando Montenegro
- Pilar Reyes
Editors
- Jorge Cardona, editor-in-chief
- Sara Araújo, Arts and People.
- Olga Lucía Barona, Sports.
- Angélica Lagos, International.
- Leonardo Rodríguez, elespectador.com
- Norbey Quevedo, Investigations.
- Juan David Laverde, Crime and Law
- Hugo García Segura, Politics
- Luis F. Gutiérrez, Business
- Fernando Araújo Vélez, Bogotá
Sunday
- Héctor Abad FaciolinceHéctor Abad FaciolinceHéctor Abad Faciolince is a Colombian novelist, essayist, journalist, and editor. Abad is considered one of the most talented "post-boom" writers in Latin American literature. Abad is best known for his bestselling novels Angosta, and more recently, El Olvido que Seremos Héctor Abad Faciolince...
- Fernando Araújo Vélez
- Ramiro Bejarano Guzmán
- Mauricio Botero Caicedo
- Álvaro Camacho Guizado
- Iván Cepeda Castro
- Juan Esteban Constain
- Humberto de la CalleHumberto De la CalleHumberto De la Calle Lombana is a Colombian lawyer and politician. He served as Vice President of Colombia from 1994 to 1997.-Education:...
- Cristina de la Torre
- Lisandro Duque Naranjo
- Alejandro Gaviria
- Iván Mejía Álvarez
- Alfredo Molano Bravo
- Armando Montenegro
- Luis Fernando MontoyaLuis Fernando MontoyaLuis Fernando Montoya Soto is a Colombian football manager.-Career:He started his career doing his first steps as technical director in the little town of Caldas, where he stood out as a good strategist, then he began his physical preparation studies at the Jaime Izasa Cadavid Polytechnic at...
- William Ospina
- Hernán Peláez Restrepo
- Hugo Sabogal
- Eduardo Sarmiento
- Harry Sason
- María Antonieta Solórzano
- Tola y MarujaTola y MarujaTola y Maruja is a Colombian comedy duo, formed in 1990 by journalist and cartoonist Carlos Mario Gallego and writer Sergio Valencia Rincón . Tola and Maruja are two old paisa ladies, who mock Colombian politics and society....
- María Emma Wills
- Ernesto Yamhure
- Felipe Zuleta Lleras
Monday
- María Elvira Bonilla
- Luis Carvajal Basto
- Roberto J. Camacho
- Álvaro Forero Tascón
- Germán González
- Salomón Kalmanovitz
- Lorenzo Madrigal
- Santiago Montenegro
- Mario Morales
- Mauricio Rodríguez
- Santiago Rojas
Tuesday
- Eduardo Barajas Sandoval
- Antonio Casale
- Tulio Elí Chinchilla
- Marcela Lleras
- Andrés Marocco
- Iván Mejía Álvarez
- Aura Lucía Mera
- Daniel PachecoDaniel PachecoDaniel "Dani" Pacheco Lobato is a Spanish footballer who plays for Rayo Vallecano, on loan from Atlético Madrid, and owned by Liverpool. Pacheco started his career with Barcelona in 2003, before moving to Liverpool in 2007. He made his debut on 9 December 2009 against Fiorentina in the UEFA...
- Hernán Peláez Restrepo
- César Rodríguez GaravitoCésar Rodríguez GaravitoCésar Rodríguez Garavito is a Colombian sociologist and legal scholar whose work focuses on the transformation of law and politics in the context of globalization...
- Reinaldo Spitaletta
- Rodrigo Uprimny
Wednesday
- Danilo Arbilla
- :es:Fernando Carrillo Flórez
- Pascual Gaviria
- Hernán González Rodríguez
- Andrés Hoyos
- José Fernando Isaza
- Patricia Lara Salive
- Cecilia Orozco TascónCecilia Orozco TascónCecilia Orozco Tascón is a Colombian journalist. She writes opinion pieces for El Espectador and El País, and is the director of Noticias Uno newscast.- Career :...
- Hernando Roa Suárez
- Juan Pablo Ruiz Soto
- Arlene B. Tickner
Thursday
- Rodolfo Arango
- Luis Eduardo Garzón
- Gustavo Gómez Córdoba
- María Teresa Herrán
- Ana Milena Muñoz de Gaviria
- Rafael Orduz
- Ángela María Orozco
- Uriel Ortiz Soto
- Elisabeth Ungar Bleier
- Klaus Ziegler
Friday
- Ricardo Arias Trujillo
- Ana María Cano Posada
- Hugo Chaparro Valderrama
- Juan David Correa Ulloa
- Jorge Iván Cuervo R.
- Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín
- Esteban Carlos Mejía
- Mario Morales
- Lucas Ospina
- Mario Fernando Prado
- Yesid Reyes Alvarado
- Augusto Trujillo Muñoz
- Juan Gabriel Vásquez
- Carlos Villalba Bustillo
- Juan VilloroJuan VilloroJuan Villoro is a Mexican writer and journalist. He has been well known among intellectual circles in Mexico, Latin America and Spain for years, but his success among the readers grew since receiving the Herralde Prize for his novel El testigo.-Biography:Juan Villoro received his bachelor's degree...
Saturday
- Rocío Arias Hofman
- Juan Carlos BoteroJuan Carlos BoteroJuan Carlos Botero is a Colombian researcher, currently serving as Director of the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index in Washington, DC.- Cross-country institutional indicators :...
- Diana Castro Benetti
- Manuel Drezner
- Mauricio García V.
- Julio César Londoño
- Adolfo Meisel Roca
- Sergio Otálora Montenegro
- Gustavo Páez Escobar
- Julián Posada
- Lola Salcedo Castañeda
Syndicated columnists
- Paulo CoelhoPaulo CoelhoPaulo Coelho is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.-Biography:Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical,...
- Umberto EcoUmberto EcoUmberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
- Christopher HitchensChristopher HitchensChristopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
- Nicholas D. KristofNicholas D. KristofNicholas Donabet Kristof is an American journalist, author, op-ed columnist, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. He has written an op-ed column for The New York Times since November 2001 and is known for bringing to light human rights abuses in Asia and Africa, such as human trafficking and the...
- Tomás Eloy MartínezTomás Eloy MartínezTomás Eloy Martínez was an Argentine journalist and writer.-Life and work:Born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Martínez obtained a degree in Spanish and Latin American literature from the University of Tucumán, and an MA at the University of Paris...
Former Publishers
- Ricardo Santamaría (2003)
- Carlos Lleras de la Fuente (1999–2002)
- Rodrigo Pardo (1998–1999)
- Juan Guillermo Cano and Fernando Cano (1986–1997)
- Guillermo Cano Isaza (1952–1986)
- Gabriel Cano (1919 - 1923: Medellín edition; 1949 - 1958 Bogotá edition)
- Luis Cano (1919–1949)
- Fidel Cano GutiérrezFidel Cano GutiérrezFidel Cano Gutiérrez was a Colombian journalist, founder of El Espectador, Colombia's oldest newspaper....
(1887–1919)