Investigative journalism in el salvador, tied up by pressures and fears

Abstract

In the professional field of modern and professional communications, scientific research constitutes a tool of the first order. It is the means through which the receiver, his culture, his feelings and his thoughts are recognized; recognition that becomes an essential input to develop attractive and successful communication products, as necessary for democracy as investigative journalism. In El Salvador, both in the university academic environment and in the field of investigative journalism, the use of the scientific method is not rigorous due to external and internal factors that limit it.

As in most Latin American countries, in the academic sphere, research methods have been under the shadow of epistemological determinisms, which have essentially distanced us from the real recognition of communication problems in social and cultural dynamics. In addition, it has suffered from specialized knowledge, rigor and responsibility. However, as of 1992, a long process of reconversion of research methodologies has begun, with a more equitable perspective and appropriate to the Salvadoran context.

In the field of journalism, the investigative practice has not been able to develop fully because there are external factors of an academic-university, political, economic and legal nature that limit it enormously, to the point of giving it low priority and keeping it too coerced. Internally, the organization of media newsrooms is not designed for investigative journalism; Furthermore, journalists' salaries do not correspond to the demands of the job. In both contexts, journalists experience fears and a mechanism of self-censorship in the face of a system that is quite adverse due to political reprisals and the occupational risks to which they may be subjected by agents of political economic power. However, as of 1992, the practice of investigative journalism has begun that has favored the establishment and consolidation of our democracy, with its more multi-thematic and profound approaches.