SAN SALVADOR – The community of youtubers and content generators in El Salvador already has a space on the balcony of the Salvadoran Congress to cover the legislative plenary sessions starting on April 17. A decision that, according to the president of the legislature, puts an end to the alleged “monopoly” that the media have over information.
Among the journalistic union there are different opinions on the subject. Since the Salvadoran government seeks to spread a propaganda message, through content creators, to those who believe that there is no debate on the subject, since the work of a journalist is different from that of an opinion content creator.
“The big risk we are facing now is that they want to simulate propaganda with information. I think you have to know how to differentiate between one function and another, obviously that of the media and that of journalists is to inform, verify, contrast and that is very different from what a youtuber does who is not obliged to follow the journalistic method that we follow as part of the profession,” he explained to the voice of americaJessica Ávalos, editor-in-chief of the Factum Magazine.
The fact that there are accredited youtubers, according to Ávalos, opens the threshold to confuse citizens between what can be “a bar of applauders” and “journalistic coverage”. But for the journalist The printing pressEdwin Segura, there is no confusion.
“The fact that they arrive at the Assembly and that they are accredited is not going to change the fact that they do not report (…) In addition, I have no information that they have covered the last plenary session. In summary, they are going to continue creating opinion content that only takes information from the government, which is more of the same with the only difference is that now they are accredited, ”he added to the VOA.
Segura explained that youtubers do not hide their support for the government. A fact that Ávalos shares when explaining that it was evidenced the day that Ernesto Castro, president of the Salvadoran Congress, asked for applause for the youtubers, assuring that freedom of expression “is built from the people to the people.”
“From the moment the president of Congress says let’s applaud those who have supposedly come to ‘cover’, from that moment it is seen that there is a relationship of godfather, cronyism and complicity between this group and the officials. So what can we expect? In other words, how can we expect some type of control or that they are going to demand accountability?” Ávalos questioned.
For Ezequiel Barrera, founder of Gato Encerrado magazine, in El Salvador the measure also seeks to “recognize those who misinform and attack journalists.” “With the arrival of these content creators in the Assembly, there is less space for journalists in that State body. If before they were relegated now it is worse, “he explained to the Voice of America.
One point that concerns journalists is the discourse that the government seeks to promote by inviting content creators to cover that State body.
“I think the concern is more about the discourse around this fact, and what is that discourse? That the journalistic union in El Salvador is discredited, that nobody believes us and that they believe youtubers more,” added Segura, from The printing press.
The official position seeks to end “the monopoly”
The day that the youtubers entered the Legislative Palace to cover the plenary for the first time, the president of Congress, Ernesto Castro, said that with this visit journalists and the media were losing “the monopoly of information”, and referred to to them as “mercenaries who have been selling themselves with some and with others.”
“I know that there are many people who do not agree with this decision because in the end they are losing that monopoly that they have always had. (…) Surely here, the ones who lose the most are those mercenaries who have sold themselves as intermediaries in bringing and taking, but despite what they think, the changes in this country are not going to stop, ”he said.
According to the official, the measure opens the doors to “equal conditions with journalists.”
Mario Medrano, content creator of Eco Studio said, through a video, thanking “the novel and unexpected opportunity” of the Salvadoran Congress. “Thank President Ernesto Castro for giving this opportunity not only to me but to many content creators. It is a new opportunity, something unexpected, honestly, that many content creators were surprised,” he said.
The Assembly has not given an official number of accredited content creators for press work, but according to the images released by the State body, some 25 attended the welcome plenary.
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