Abstract

MENDEZ-MUROS, Sandra  and  CASTILLO ZAMORA, Juan Manuel. Journalistic production and digital conversion in Central America: progress and challenges. Revista de Comunicación [online]. 2023, vol.22, n.2, pp.377-398.  Epub Oct 17, 2023. ISSN 1684-0933.  http://dx.doi.org/10.26441/rc22.2-2023-3284.

The practice of journalism in Central American countries faces great challenges. The digital conversion of newsrooms has left a mark on the media in an unstable economic and political context and an increasingly competitive labor market to address a public that shows shortages. Our objective is to describe the impact of digitalization on journalistic production in media of Central America through the study of four countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) over ten years (2012-2021). We use methodological triangulation through the use of mixed qualitative and quantitative techniques (previous studies on journalistic digitization, 102 surveys of working journalists and 14 semi-structured interviews with experts) on three thematic axes: the impact of digitization on news production, the employment situation of journalists during the digital conversion process and the effects on the journalistic enterprise. The main conclusions point to the fact that journalists have had to develop digital competencies in a process of accelerated transformation that has affected content, routines, sources and thematic agenda; journalists have accumulated tasks, while job insecurity has increased, although the digital reconfiguration has made it possible to work more comfortably and there is a commitment to continuous technological training for journalists.

Keywords : Central America; digitization; news production; media; journalistic profession.

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