Independent Voices of Entrepreneurial News: Setting a New Agenda in Latin America

Abstract

Entrepreneurial journalism relates broadly to digital-native news organizations that are innovating in the field. A chief innovation in Latin America is a newfound opportunity for editorial independence, according to focus groups with entrepreneurial journalists from 16 organizations across the region. Entrepreneurial journalism organizations believe their financial structure gives them editorial autonomy. This study looked at the background for and the reasons why independence is considered a necessary innovation in Latin American journalism. It found that pressures against editorial independence varied from government funding (Argentina and Brazil) to corporate impositions (Peru) and government pressures (Mexico). Our focus group participants found a need for a space to cover topics and issues that were not being addressed or were being misrepresented by mainstream media from the Amazon region of Brazil to investigative reporting in Venezuela and under-covered communities in Chile. This innovation has allowed journalists to embrace an interventionist role (Hanitzsch, Hanusch, & Lauerer, 2016), based on social engagement and the ability to set the agenda, as our expert group stated, and to be a protagonist of public discourse. While the impact of such news organizations is fairly new, some organizations have developed a sizable and strong community of users, and have influenced public opinion.