February 15th, 2024 (4:30pm – 6:00pm Boston | 22:30 Madrid)
In Person (Observatorio) & via Zoom
RSVP: https://bit.ly/RSVPObservatorio info-observatory@fas.harvard.edu
Latin America, like much of the world, is immersed in an atmosphere of extreme polarization, where the lack of access to accurate information is increasingly evident, leading to the erosion of fragile democracies. Leaders in the region, regardless of their ideology, seem to unite when it comes to imposing restrictions and obstacles on the practice of free and independent journalism. Persecutions of journalists and media outlets are on the rise from positions of power, stretching from Brazil to Mexico, which is the deadliest country in the world for journalists, even in the absence of an armed conflict. What strategies can be implemented to address this deficit? How can these practices be combated? Journalism experts Javier Lafuente and Juan Luis Manfredi will attempt to answer these questions in this panel organized by the Observatorio, in collaboration with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) at Harvard University. The event will also feature a brief introduction by Alisha Holland, Professor of Government at Harvard and Faculty Committee Member of the Andes & Southern Cone Program of DRCLAS.
Spanish reporter Javier Lafuente (El País) is currently a Nieman fellow of the Nieman Foundation of Journalism at Harvard University. He specializes in Latin America and has been professionally linked to the region since 2015, when he became a correspondent in Colombia, covering the peace treaty between the Colombian government and the FARC. He has also been a correspondent in Venezuela, the Andean region, Mexico and Central America. In 2020 he became the deputy managing editor of the American edition of the newspaper El País.
Juan Luis Manfredi, professor of Journalism at the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha (Spain), is the current Prince of Asturias Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (USA). His research and teaching focus on European politics, deglobalization, public and modern diplomacy, and urban international politics. He has also collaborated as a journalist with media from Spain and other countries, such as Cinco Días, El País, Le Grand Continent or the radio station CMM. His most recent books are Handbook of Diplomatic Reform and Innovation (Palgrave, 2023) and Urban Diplomacy. A Cosmopolitan Outlook (Brill, 2021).
Language: Spanish