Citizens’ Media against Armed Conflict: Disrupting Violence in Colombia

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS So many people in so many places made this book possible. First and foremost, so many thanks to all the citizens’ media pioneers for allowing me into their lives, their communities, and their media initiatives. In Montes de María, Soraya Bayuelo Castellar, Beatriz Ochoa, Modesta Muñoz, la Chichi, Wilgen Peñaloza, and Leonarda de la Ossa each taught me that, even when hit by tragedy and surrounded by war, we need to make time for a gentle embrace or a Caribbean dance. In Magdalena Medio, where I found people in love with their homeland, trying so hard to rescue their region from the recent history of brutality; people like Orley Durán, Manfry Gómez Ditta, Julio Hoyos, Omaira Arrieta, Amparo Murillo, and Melba Quijano . In Simití, Sofi Torrenegra and Fidel Castro took time to show me around. Exhausted, I took one of the best naps in my life in one of the hammocks in Sofi’s home, and she fed me a scrumptious breakfast the following morning. In San Vicente de Chucurí, Leonardo Amaya, Don Isidoro Caballero, Sonia Durán, and Jorge Correa opened every door for me and spent so many hours explaining their region and the role(s) of San Vicente Estéreo. On one occasion they even took my daughter to market so that I could focus on my interviews. When they returned, she had a new pet: Charquito de Colombia, a white bunny that later hopped from room to room in our apartment in Bogotá. In Santa Rosa, Pacho Urbiñez told me countless stories about the gold mines nearby and his own experiences with the guerrillas. I could write an entire chapter about Pacho, who was at the time director of Santa Rosa Estéreo. In Belén de los Andaquíes, Doña Marta Calderón, Blanco Alirio, Raul Sotelo, Mariana García, and Mariana’s mom and dad all went out of their way to welcome me into their homes and 267 their lives. I felt so welcomed so many times I did not want to board that plane from Florencia back to Bogotá. Alirio González, the man who understands so well the comings and goings of tides, my unconditional parcero, taught me entirely new ways of seeing and understanding my own country, my own people. I also want to thank Guillermo Pérez for the most fascinating interview I’ve ever done, and Benjamín Casadiego for so many ideas essential to understanding the connections between citizens’ media and schools. Jeanine El Gazi showed me endless generosity in allowing me to explore the Ministry of Culture’s Unidad de Radio archives, in her thorough readings of everything I sent her, and in giving me the context I needed to make sense of so many issues. Other key people at the Ministry of Culture include Javier Espitia and Tatiana Duplat. Esmeralda Ortiz at the Ministry of Communications explained so many issues related to community media legislation and the history of media activism in Colombia. My academic colleagues in Colombia, Jair Vega at Universidad del Norte and Amparo Cadavid at Uniminuto , were critical allies in several citizens’ media projects. To Adelaida Trujillo, at Citurna, thanks so much for organizing a luncheon where Jeanine and I could meet; that single event set in motion an endless chain of wonderful outcomes, including chapter 4 in this book. So many thanks to Jesús Martín Barbero, for more than twenty-five years of continuous mentoring and support. Remedios Fajardo, Nat Nat Iguarán, and Jeremías Tunubalá helped me understand Colombian indigenous media history and issues. Omar Rincón at the Centro de Competencias en Comunicación para América Latina (Fundación Friedrich Ebert) was an unconditional supporter of my citizens’ media projects, as were Jaime Abello at the Fundación para un Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano , and Camilo Tamayo at CINEP. Thanks so much to Rafael Obregón and Jesús Arroyave, also my colleagues at Universidad del Norte. Rafa and Jair made it possible for me to spend a semester in 2004 at Universidad del Norte as a visiting professor—that’s where and when it all started. My students at the Maestría en Comunicación, Cultura y Cambio Social at Universidad del Norte, especially the first class, were essential to early stages of the project. Many of them, familiar with complex regional contexts of armed conflict, responded with enthusiasm when I began talking about the roles of...