Video, data-mapping, and AI drive innovative media in Latin America
Originally published Apr 25, 2024
I’ve always been inspired by the all-Spanish session of the International Symposium on Online Journalism in Austin (video of the session here, program here). Despite scarce resources, censorship, and stifling oligarchies, our Latin American colleagues manage to develop innovative solutions to the problems of producing trustworthy journalism. All the links are in Spanish.
In Cuba, the value of a dollar
José Nieves, founder and editor of ElToque.com, speaking at the Coloquio, or seminar, in the all-Spanish portion of the International Symposium of Online Journalism.
When I met José Nieves, editor-in-chief of ElToque.com, an independent, multiplatform news publication on Cuba, I confessed that the Cuban accent is, for me, the most difficult of all in Spanish. But I had no trouble understanding his explanation of how the publication works.
ElToque’s most popular product is its information on the informal black market for hard currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the euro. “We capture information from groups in social networks with artificial intelligence, and we produce in real time the buy and sell of various currencies in Cuba,” Nieves explained.
The Cuban peso has been declining in value rapidly for a variety of reasons. But its impact on ordinary Cubans is felt when they try to buy medicine, basic foodstuffs, and daily products such as soap and detergent. There are long lines and shortages in the official government stores, so residents try to obtain hard currency to buy their necessities on the black market.
The official exchange rate is 120 pesos to the dollar, but the illegal black market rate was 365 pesos to the dollar on April 24. Cubans can get hard currency from remittances or through tourist-oriented businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and taxi services.
ElToque has 3.3 million monthly users, 440,000 followers on Facebook, and 100,000 followers on YouTube. The Cuban government calls ElToque “economic terrorists” and labels them a product of the CIA. But the publication is not part of any government or other organization.
They’ve also created a database of people who have died or disappeared while traveling from Cuba to the US. Since 2014, with faces, names, and biographies of the people. “They aren’t just numbers,” Nieves said.
Hands across the border with Mexico
An estimated 10.7 million Mexican immigrants live in the U.S., and most of them need help navigating their new home. Patricia Mercado, founder of Conexión Migrante (the Immigrant Connection), said, “We’re convinced that quality information is essential for migrants to make good decisions in their lives, and to have better possibilities in their lives.”
To that end, Conexión is a collaboration of digital native media that offer information and advice to Mexicans and Latinos who live in the U.S. as well as their families back home. About 30% of their audience is in the U.S., 30% in Mexico, and the rest in other Latin countries.
Immigrants are a highly vulnerable group, Mercado said. A big problem is fraud and extortion. Various “fixers” or “coyotes” promise migrants that they can get them to the U.S. They demand upfront payments, often of thousands of dollars, and may abandon the people or insist on more money from the person’s family back home.
Conexión’s call center is staffed by five people and answers 800,000 calls a year. Its funding sources include various nonprofits and donors.
In Brazil, what happens to the water
Thiago Medaglia, founder and project manager of Ambiental Media (Environmental Media, Brazil), described how satellite mapping has been used for decades to track deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon River basin. But until recently, it was impossible to track the impact on water quality of various types of human activity, such as mining, urban development, hydroelectric plants, and agriculture.
The multidisciplinary team of Ambiental Media has created a series of interactive maps of the Amazon River basin, which covers nine countries, to tell the story of how these activities have significantly reduced the amount of surface water in the basin.
“We believe in journalism as a tool to warn of and raise awareness about the climate emergency,” Medaglia said.
According to the website, water quality can be measured by tracking the concentration of sediment, chlorophyll, and dissolved organic matter by satellite.
Using the latest satellite imagery that captures water quality, Environmental Media has layered maps showing the impact on the Amazon basin’s water quality of various human activity, link to the interactive map.
Ambiental’s work has been published by media outlets in Brazil and the world, including The Guardian, Folha de São Paulo, Estado de SP, The Conversation, O Globo, Valor Economico, and National Geographic Brasil, among others.
In Ecuador, ‘unconquered’ women
Thalie Ponce, editor of Indómita Media of Ecuador, founded the publication in 2021 with a goal of defying the traditional narratives about women and those who are sexually diverse.
Indómita, which translates roughly as “undefeated” or “unconquered” woman, aims to change public policy and discriminatory economic practices.
One of their major investigations focused on women in prison and the impact on their families. When the new government declared martial law, soldiers took over the responsibility of the prisons. Women with children under 3 years old reported that the soldiers took away the children’s clothing, tubs, and bottles.
Government and prison officials refused access to the women, so cellphones of the prisoners became a key tool for reporting. Indómita conducted interviews via text, phone, and video calls.
Ponce notes that they have raised awareness of the public and human rights organizations of the abuses in the prisons.
In Peru, land of entrepreneurs
Juan Carlos Villacorta Reyes, co-founder of Infomercado (Market news) of Perú, is a believer in trial and error. The technical term for this among entrepreneurial types is “iteration.”
In December 2022 Google disrupted their advertising-based business model with a change in their algorithms. So they had to find new ways to reach new audiences. They turned to social media.
They experimented with various formats on YouTube and hit upon one that has become popular: 2-minute video conversations with entrepreneurs. That has helped drive the number of their subscribers to 51,800 on YouTube. Nine of their stories have been seen more than 1 million times; 30 have been reproduced more than 500,000 times. They now have more than 150 entrepreneur stories, which means they have opportunities for sponsorship.
In the first year on TikTok, they had only 5,000 followers. They now have 336,000 followers. Add to that 1,660 followers on LinkedIn, 99,000 on Facebook, and 44,000 on Instagram.
A remarkable story of resilience, flexibility, and innovation.
Master the numbers
I paid close attention to this presentation on “The importance of finance and measurement in digital media,” two topics of this newsletter. Also the presenters are from SembraMedia, where I act as treasurer and member of the executive committee.
SembraMedia has as its main goal to help independent digital media in Latin America achieve financial sustainability. Micaela Fernández, finance director, and Chiara Finocchiario, project manager, had a simple message that is often overlooked in digital media startups: If you don’t know where you’re going financially, you will get lost. “Don’t do anything without researching it beforehand,” Micaela said.
Chiara added, “Too often in media organizations the business considerations take a back seat.” She recommended, for example, that before launching a new journalism initiative, work up a budget to see how much it would cost.
Summing up, measure everything: the numbers are critical for understanding your audience’s needs, for accountability to funders, and for adjusting to the constant changes in media technology, competition, and audiences.
