Projects
Soft Censorship in Latin America
Argentine authorities retaliate against a newspaper’s critical coverage by shuttering its printing press. In Honduras, officials silence a national radio station by suspending its telephone service. High-ranking officials in Chile use advertising contracts to buy favorable media coverage. In Colombia and Peru, officials go one step further by providing direct payments to journalists.
Authorities in Latin America have long used violence, legal harassment, and intimidation to silence outspoken journalists. Governments across the region are now increasingly using financial incentives and regulatory powers to control the press. This so-called soft censorship can chill entire newsrooms, yet it often remains invisible to the public and rarely generates broad public outrage.
Without an independent press, no country can enjoy the benefits of a vibrant democracy, and The Open Society Justice Initiative is pushing legal reforms throughout the region that would end the practice of buying favorable coverage. In 2005 and 2008, it released two groundbreaking reports on soft censorship in Latin America: Buying the News and The Price of Silence.
