|
La Prensa - Nicaragua
One of the Most Popular Dailies
Key historical data
In Nicaragua, La Prensa has been the single substantial opposition
newspaper to the Somoza and Sandinista regimes. The resistance and
critiques brought to the prolonged leadership in the hands of the
Somoza family have been initiated, in journalism, by the Chamorro
family, who, in 1926, put the bases of La Prensa, in a media
environment dominated by Somoza. Somoza, in his turn, controlled his
own newspaper, namely Novedades, and the need was felt to somehow
counteract the censorship Somoza’s rule forced on the news and
articles published in the mass media.
At the time Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal came as editor of La
Prensa, in 1952, he was not a novice in journalism; on the contrary,
he was the heir of a fairly solid journalist legacy, since many
members of the Chamorro family had been journalists. Since the
newspaper promoted the activist, reformist line adopted by the
members of the Chamorro family – a line obviously opposing the line
of the regime – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro had been often taken into
custody, due to this precise aspect of La Prensa’s content.
Nevertheless, the significant point in La Prensa’s evolution is that
it has never been completely closed. Undoubtedly, the newspaper has
endured censorship, yet never entirely, there has always been space
in its pages to pass critical judgment on the governmental methods
of manipulation.
When, in 1978, Chamorro was murdered, his widow, Violeta Barrios de
Chamorro, took over the management of La Prensa. She continued in
the same reformist line. In 1990, to the amazement of many, she was
elected president of Nicaragua.
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, former president of Nicaragua and
former manager of La Prensa
Nowadays
The same as during Pedro Joaquín Chamorro’s management, La Prensa
continues even nowadays to hold the leading influence on the written
press scene. The same as previously, the newspaper keeps on being an
assiduous follower and advocate of democracy in Nicaragua. Its
common articles focus on the government’s actions, on issues
relating to national political interests, on economic reports.
The newspaper is a broadsheet, reaching a standard of 36 pages –
sometimes more or less, but anyway around 36, larger with around 15
pages than the other popular Nicaraguan daily, El Nuevo Diario.
Together with El Nuevo Diario, La Prensa stands as one of the first
dailies to what concerns circulation numbers. However, even a
newspaper as popular as La Prensa is actually less popular among
Nicaragua’s citizens than radio, which is the prevalent news and
entertainment broadcaster. The reason Nicaraguans prefer radio is
chiefly based on the citizen’s poverty, a fact which practically
stops them from paying the amount of córdoba necessary to buy a
newspaper.
|
|
Coming Soon...
Interactive
Nicaragua Maps
 |
|
