Silvia Viñas · September, 2013

Latest posts by Silvia Viñas from September, 2013

Praise and Criticism for Uruguay's Proposed Media Law

  27 September 2013

The bill, which has received the praise of several journalism and freedom of expression organizations, is not as controversial as the one recently approved in Ecuador or as contentious as the one currently in the hands of Argentina’s Supreme Court. However, it is not without its critics. While it has been lauded for its intention to set...

Esther Vargas Helps Journalists Stay Relevant

  24 September 2013

In the blog News Entrepreneurs, James Breiner highlights the work of Peruvian journalist Esther Vargas and her website Clases de Periodismo [es] (Journalism Classes): She and her team of four dedicated collaborators compile the latest news and courses of interest to journalists and share it all through social networks such...

Colombia's Agrarian Strike Enters Fourth Week

  17 September 2013

After three tense weeks, Colombia´s rural national strike continues with no white smoke on the horizon. To contain the spreading crisis, the government of Juan Manuel Santos, under pressure from peasant strikers who have blocked several crucial highways, has followed a three-pronged strategy that has thus far proved ineffective. Nazih...

Chile Coup Recounted Through Interactive Storytelling

  16 September 2013

The online version of Chilean newspaper La Tercera released an interactive, multimedia special [es, en] on the 40th anniversary of the coup against Salvador Allende. Mariana Santos worked with the team behind this project as an ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellow. Mariana says that “the goal was to tell this...

Chilean Education: ‘No More Market Mechanisms, No More SIMCE’

  12 September 2013

Stop SIMCE [es] or (“Alto al SIMCE” in Spanish) is a campaign organized by a group of academics, teachers and students who want to put an end to the Education Quality Measurement System (SIMCE for its initials in Spanish), a standardized testing system used to evaluate Chilean students. The group explains...

VIDEO: Exploring the Galapagos Islands with Google Maps

  12 September 2013

Google Maps has released a video on their trip “to collect 360-degree Street View imagery” of the Galapagos Islands. The blog Lat Long explains: The extensive Street View imagery of the Galapagos Islands will not only allow armchair travellers to experiences the islands from their desktop computer, but it will also play...

Colombian Teachers Begin National Strike

  10 September 2013

Teachers from the Colombian Federation of Educators FECODE [es] have started [es] a national strike to demand better health plans, an end to “the policy of privatization” in education, and other issues [es]. The strike will include regional protests and a march towards Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. Catalina Vanegas...

Reclaiming Indigenous Lands in Honduras

  4 September 2013

In Honduras, they’re taking land that we were using to grow beans and rice so they can grow African palm for bio-fuel. The intention is to stop the production of food that humans need so they can produce fuel that cars need. Beverly Bell and Tory Field have published a...

Colombia Starts New Week Amid Agrarian Strike

  2 September 2013

Uncertainty reigns in Colombia after almost two weeks since the start of the agrarian strike. Although negotiations between the government and the protesters have moved forward, citizens across the country held massive protests on August 29, most of which ended with riots. Roads are still blocked in some parts of...