El Espectador
El Espectador ("The Spectator") is a newspaper of national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on March 22, 1887, in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It transition from a daily to a weekly edition in 2001, following a financial crisis, and again with a daily released since May 11, 2008,[2][3] a comeback which had been long rumoured,[4][5] in tabloid format (28 x 39.5 cm). From 1997 to 2011 its main shareholder was Julio Mario Santo Domingo.[6]
For the Uruguayan media company, see CX 14 El Espectador.Type
Spanish
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.[7]
According to the latest Estudio General de Medios (EGM – Segunda Ola 2007 (II-2007)), El Espectador has 687,900 readers every week.[8] It is a member of the Inter American Press Association and the Asociación de Diarios Colombianos (ANDIARIOS).
Since its foundation in 1887, El Espectador acted as a speaker for the Colombian Liberal Party, at the time opposed to the administrations of the conservative Regeneration. It was closed by the authorities several times:[9]
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 20 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 31 May 1958. The next day, Jun 1, 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 Villegas said: "if El Tiempo has the best corner in Bogotá, El Espectador has the best corner in the country."[11]
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 cartoonists Hernán Merino, Pepón, Consuelo Lago, and Osuna.
In 2007, its publisher Fidel Cano Correa said he did not agree with former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez's personal behaviour and government style, but he specified that was his own position and not the newspaper's.[12]
Defence of the freedom of the press[edit]
On 29 May 2000 Reporters Without Borders issued a letter of protest to Interior Minister Humberto de La Calle Lombana, on the kidnapping of journalist Jineth Bedoya,[22] 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".[23] She would later join El Tiempo.
On 23 August 1999, a group called Colombian Rebel Army (ERC) published a communiqué issuing death threats 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.[22] 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".[22] On 18 September, Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, who had worked for El Espectador and RCN Radio, went into exile.[22]
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 the Mapiripán Massacre, in which 49 peasants were killed by paramilitary militias, had been 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[24] 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.[25] 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.[26][27] The incident was contempt by organizations as RWB.[26][28]
In 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.[29] 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.[29][30]
On 18 November 2004, a Bogotá court sentenced columnist and film director Lisandro Duque to three days in jail and a 470 euros 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.[27]