Description: In the past two decades, investigative journalism has undergone startling development in South America, where repressive regimes -- whether nominal democracies or outright dictatorships -- have long relegated such reporting to marginal publications or underground outlets. This volume explores the rise of critical journalism in four nations: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Drawing upon interviews with journalists and editors along with an analysis of selected news stories from each country, Silvio Waisbord offers a unique look at the significant differences between critical reporting in developing democracies and that already in place in the United States and European democracies.

As Waisbord demonstrates, critical reporting in South America can be better understood as watchdog journalism than as investigative reporting in the American or European sense of the word. Examining the historical absence of a critical press, he reveals the major muckraking reports that symbolized the beginnings of change and discusses the evolution of a new journalistic culture with the central values of morality, truth, and accountability.

Please Wait