''El Espectador'' (meaning "The Spectator") is a newspaper with national circulation within

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

and published since 1915 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. It changed from a daily to a weekly edition in 2001, following a financial crisis, and became a daily again on 11 May 2008, a comeback which had been long rumoured, in tabloid format (28 x 39.5 cm). From 1997 to 2011 its main shareholder was

Julio Mario Santo Domingo Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo (October 16, 1923 – October 7, 2011) was a Colombian-American billionaire businessman, diplomat and patriarch of the Santo Domingo family who lived in New York City. He controlled more than 100 companies in ...

. It is the oldest newspaper in Colombia. Since its first issue its motto has been "El Espectador will work for the good of the country with liberal criteria and for the good of the liberal principles with patriotic criteria". It was initially published twice a week, 500 issues each. It defined itself as a "political, literary, news and industrial newspaper". Years later it became a daily and in 2001 became a weekly. Since then, the paper uses the slogan "El Espectador. Opinion is news", implying it now focuses in opinion articles, not in

breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...

. This focus was kept when it regained its daily format on 11 May 2008. According to the latest ''Estudio General de Medios'' (EGM – Segunda Ola 2007 (II-2007)), ''El Espectador'' has 687,900 readers every week. It is a member of the

Inter American Press Association The Inter American Press Association (IAPA; Spanish: ''Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa'', SIP) is a press advocacy group representing major media organizations in North America, South America and the Caribbean. It is made up of more than 1,300 ...

and the Asociación de Diarios Colombianos (ANDIARIOS).

History

Primera edición de El Espectador (22 mar

Since its foundation in 1887, ''El Espectador'' acted as a speaker for the

Colombian Liberal Party The Colombian Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Colombiano; PLC) is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Sociali ...

, at the time opposed to the administrations of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Regeneration. It was closed by the authorities several times: * 8 July 1887, by the Rafael Núñez administration, 134 days after its first issue, until 10 January 1888. * 27 October 1888, by the then designated

Carlos Holguín Sardi Carlos Holguín Sardi (born 16 December 1940) was the 64th and 54th Governor of Valle del Cauca. A Conservative party politician, he served as the 3rd Minister of the Interior and Justice of Colombia from 2006 to 2008, and as the 20th Minister ...

, until 12 February 1891; previously, the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

had forbidden its followers to read the newspaper, because of criticism of the ''lavishness of the Catholic Church in public celebrations'' made by its director. * On 26 September 1892 the government fined the newspaper with $200.000 after considering one of its articles "subversive". * 8 August 1893, by Antioquia governor Abraham García, until 14 March 1896. Fidel Cano Gutiérrez was jailed. * On 27 June 1896, until 27 April 1897, due to a press law recently passed by the Congress. * The outbreak of the

Thousand Days War The Thousand Days' War ( es, Guerra de los Mil Días) was a civil war fought in Colombia from 17 October 1899 to 21 November 1902, at first between the Liberal Party and the government led by the National Party, and later – after the Conser ...

made ''El Espectador'' suspend its activities between 19 October 1899 and 16 October 1903 * On 17 December 1904 it was suspended again, after facing difficulties and opposing the

Rafael Reyes Rafael Reyes Prieto (December 5, 1849 – February 18, 1921) was a Colombian politician and soldier who was the Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia (1904–1909).Gobernantes Colombianos, Ignacio Arismendi Posa ...

administration. It appeared again on 2 January 1913, as an evening daily in

. Since 10 February 1915 ''El Espectador'' has been simultaneously published in Medellín and

. Its Medellín edition was suspended on 20 July 1923. In 1948, after the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

of Liberal Party leader

Jorge Eliecer Gaitán Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος ('' Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker". The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...

, its circulation was suspended for three days. Since then, ''El Espectador'' has had to deal with the

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

of the then ruling Conservative Party several times. On 9 November 1949, Luis Cano Villegas, its director, resigned in protest for the seizure of the entire edition by the government, being replaced by his brother Gabriel Cano Villegas. On 6 September 1952, its facilities, then located in downtown Bogotá, as well as the building of competitor '' El Tiempo'' and the houses of Liberal Party leaders Eduardo Santos and

Carlos Lleras Restrepo Carlos Alberto Lleras Restrepo (12 April 1908 – 27 September 1994) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served the 22nd President of Colombia from 1966 to 1970. Biographic data Lleras was born in Bogotá, on 12 April 1908. He was the ...

, were looted and partially destroyed, apparently with the tacit consent of the government. It reappeared on 16 September. In 1955 the newspaper, outspokenly opposed to the military government of

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian Army general, civil engineer and dictator who ruled as 19th President of Colombia as from June 1953 to May 1957. Rojas Pinilla gained prominence as a colonel during L ...

, publishing several articles by

Alberto Lleras Camargo Alberto Lleras Camargo (3 July 1906 – 4 January 1990) was the 20th President of Colombia (1958–1962), and the 1st Secretary General of the Organization of American States (1948–1954). A journalist and liberal party politician, he also se ...

, with a substantial effect on

public opinion Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. Etymology The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...

. In December, the government accused ''El Espectador'' of several accounting and tax irregularities, and fined the newspaper $10,000 on 20 December 1955. On 6 January 1956 the National Taxes Direction imposed on ''El Espectador'' a fine of $600,000. Its directors, who were forbidden to respond to the accusations against the paper, suspended its publication that day. In order to replace ''El Espectador'', on 20 February 1956 appeared ''El Independiente'', directed by Alberto Lleras Camargo, who retired in April when the newspaper was closed for several months. It was published again in 1957 but due to an agreement by the opposition newspapers, it suspended its publication on 5 May. Five days later, Rojas Pinilla was ousted. ''El Independiente'' circulated until 31 May 1958. The next day, Jun 1, it was formally replaced by ''El Espectador''. In 1964 its headquarters moved from downtown to western Bogotá, on the avenida 68, the area becoming known as ''Avenida El Espectador''. At the inauguration, its then director Gabriel Cano Villegas said: ''"if ''El Tiempo'' has the best corner in Bogotá, ''El Espectador'' has the best corner in the country."'' Throughout the 20th century ''El Espectador'' was the main Liberal newspaper, with ''El Tiempo'', both holding an important political influence. Among its main contributors it had some of the most important Colombian journalists at the time, like Luis Eduardo Nieto Caballero,

, Eduardo Zalamea Borda,

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

Eduardo Caballero Calderón Eduardo Caballero Calderón (6 March 1910 – 3 April 1993) was a Colombian journalist and writer. As a journalist, he worked for the main Colombian newspapers, including El Tiempo and El Espectador. Also he was a diplomat from Colombia in Peru ...

, Klim, Antonio Panesso Robledo, Inés de Montaña, Alfonso Castillo Gómez, José Salgar, as well as

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

ists Hernán Merino, Pepón, Consuelo Lago, and

Osuna Osuna () is a town and municipality in the province of Seville, southern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. , it has a population of c. 17,800. It is the location of the Andalusian Social Economy School. Among famous people associ ...

. In 2007, its publisher Fidel Cano Correa said he did not agree with former President

Álvaro Uribe Vélez Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warrio ...

's personal behaviour and government style, but he specified that was his own position and not the newspaper's.

Journalism of ideas

During the 20th century ''El Espectador'' criticized other mass media in Colombia, which preferred to remain silent instead of denouncing the atrocities happening in the country. In the early 1980s, the daily published several articles denouncing illegal loans and other irregularities allegedly performed by the Grupo Grancolombiano, one of the most powerful financial groups at the time. As retaliation, several big companies pulled their ads from the paper, which was already facing some financial issues. ''El Espectador'' disputed accusations made against it and dedicated an editorial piece to its credibility and the credibility of the financial groups. ''El Espectador'' also demanded in its editorials

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

and denounced the political censorship the independent media outlets had to deal with to avoid being closed, stating that ''"not even in the worst times of

press censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

or political retaliation, some resorted to crime in order to silence the press, in one of its more noble and higher democratic functions."'' It recognized that in Colombia ''"the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

ordered and executed from the lowest social holes has become an habit, as a revenge against the work of social sanity the press is committed to."'' It concluded saying that ''"the feeling of siege and danger —on the press— would be negatively reflected on the whole democratic system."'' The newspaper rejected being considered as "subversive opposition" and criticized Liberal president

Julio César Turbay Ayala Julio César Turbay Ayala (18 June 1916 – 13 September 2005) was a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as the 25th President of Colombia from 1978 to 1982. He also held the positions of Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United St ...

's government, which by its words wished to ''"have a totally loyal, extremely pro-government press, not silenced but flattering."'' To defend itself, the paper published 15 July 1979 a column named ''Si eso es opposición...'' ("If that's opposition...") In the same text, the newspaper declared itself "neutral", considering that a democracy should not be polarized, "''because in the times we are living, newspapers are increasingly more independent from governments, more devoted entirely to report and guide according to their honest knowledge and understanding,"'' adding that the "''unanimous, one-way, uniformed, official press is (intended) for

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

s and not for democracies... and we believe that Colombia is still a democracy."'' ''El Espectador'' also criticized, openly,

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

Guillermo Cano's murder

As stated before, ''El Espectador'' stood firm against drug trafficking and often published articles on related crimes. On 17 December 1986, the then director of ''El Espectador'',

Guillermo Cano Isaza Guillermo Cano Isaza (12 August 1925 – 17 December 1986) was a Colombian journalist. Biography Guillermo Cano was the heir of Fidel Cano Gutiérrez, the founder of ''El Espectador''. As a journalist, he had worked on the paper's bullfight ...

, was assassinated in front of the newspaper offices by gunmen paid by

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...

, after publishing several articles critical of Colombia's drug barons. Cano left the headquarters around 19:00 in his family's

Subaru Leone The Subaru Leone is a compact car produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Subaru from 1971 to 1994. The word ''leone'' is Italian for lion. It was released as a replacement for the Subaru 1000 and was the predecessor of the Subaru Impreza. Al ...

After he made a

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a m ...

on the Avenida El Espectador, one of the hitmen approached the wagon Cano was driving, shot him in the chest four times with an

Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...

, and then fled on a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

identified with the licence plate FAX84. Cano was 61 years old, and had been a journalist for 44 years. His murder is still considered unpunished. On December 18, 1986,and September 3, 1989 ''El Espectadors main

headline The headline or heading is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th centur ...

was ''Seguimos adelante'' ("We are going on"). The World Press Freedom Prize, awarded annually by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

since 1997, is named in his honour, for ''"his courage, his compromise with independent journalism and the tenacity with which he fought for his country"'', which ''"are an example for the rest of the world to follow. Guillermo Cano's fate exemplifies the price paid by journalists the world over in exercising their profession; journalists are imprisoned and ill-treated every day and the fact that these crimes, for the most part, go unpunished is even more alarming."'' On 2 September 1989 the paper's offices were bombed by the

Medellín Cartel The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...

. The blast occurred around 06:30; it blew the building's roof up, destroyed the main entry and affected the newspaper's production. The bomb was hidden in a van parked minutes before it exploded in front of the main entry. The same day, 6 armed men broke into an exclusive island in

Islas del Rosario The Rosario Islands (Islas del Rosario), also referred to as Corales Islas del Rosario (Coral Islands of Rosario), is an archipelago located off the coast of Colombia, approximately from Cartagena. It is one of the 46 Natural National Parks ...

, near Cartagena de Indias, and set fire to the Cano family's summer house.

Defence of the freedom of the press

On 29 May 2000

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

issued a

letter of protest Diplomatic correspondence is correspondence between one state and another and is usually of a formal character. It follows several widely observed customs and style in composition, substance, presentation, and delivery and can generally be categor ...

to Interior Minister

Humberto de La Calle Lombana Humberto de la Calle Lombana (; born 14 July 1946) is a Colombian lawyer and politician. He served as Vice President of Colombia from 1994 to 1997. De La Calle served in the cabinet as Interior Minister under two Presidents, Andrés Pastrana ...

, on the kidnapping of journalist

Jineth Bedoya Jineth Bedoya Lima (born c. 1974) is a Colombian journalist who was abducted in May 2000 and August 2003. In 2001, she was awarded the Courage In Journalism Award of the International Women's Media Foundation.She also won the Golden Pen of Free ...

, at the time working for ''El Espectador'', allegedly carried out by members of the paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC). Robert Ménard, RWB's secretary general, ''"stated that he was "scandalised" by this latest attack on Bedoya"''. She would later join ''El Tiempo''. On 23 August 1999, a group called Colombian Rebel Army (ERC) published a communiqué issuing

death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a de ...

s against 21 personalities engaged in the then ongoing peace process, accusing them of ''"promoting war between Colombians"''. Among those personalities two ''El Espectador'' contributors were mentioned, Alfredo Molano y Arturo Alape. On 19 January 1999, Molano left the country (he would return years later). Molano had condemned the massacre of 130 people perpetrated weeks before by members of AUC commanded by Carlos Castaño, who had referred to Molano as ''"paraguerrilla"''. On 18 September,

Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza (born January 1, 1932) is a Colombian journalist, writer, and diplomat. Mendoza was named in honour to the Roman authors Pliny the Younger and Apuleius. Career Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza born in Tunja, Boyacá in 1932, son of ...

, who had worked for ''El Espectador'' and RCN Radio, went into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

. Between February and May 2000, journalist

Ignacio Gómez Ignacio Gómez (born c. 1962; also known as "Nacho") is a Colombian journalist known for his high-risk reporting on organized crime, corruption, and paramilitary groups. In 2000, he received the "Special Award for Human Rights Journalism Under Th ...

received at least 56 threatening letters. In an article published by ''El Espectador'', Gómez had revealed that the

Mapiripán Massacre Mapiripán is a town and municipality in the Meta Department Meta () is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also cr ...

, in which 49 peasants were killed by paramilitary militias, had been supported by members of the

Colombian Army The National Army of Colombia ( es, Ejército Nacional de Colombia) is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, an ...

. After escaping a kidnapping attempt in Bogotá on 24 May, Gómez sought refuge in the United States on 1 June 2000. He would return to Colombia one year later and become part of ''

Noticias Uno ''Noticias Uno'' (known from 1992 to 2002 as NTC Noticias) is a nightly Colombian newscast produced by NTC Televisión and aired weekends and holidays on pay TV channel CableNoticias. The program was formerly on state-owned privately run Canal ...

'' TV

newscast News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

. On 21 March 2003 columnist Fernando Garavito left Colombia for the United States, after several death threats. He denounced human rights violations by AUC, as well as the alleged tolerance on drug barons in the past by the then presidential candidate

. On 8 February 2003

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

Herminso Ruiz was beaten and had his

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

confiscated by members of the

Colombian National Police The National Police of Colombia (Spanish: ''Policía Nacional de Colombia'') is the national police force of the Republic of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military Forces of Colombia (Army, Navy, and Air Force), it ...

while he was covering El Nogal club bombing. The incident was contempt by organizations as RWB. In May 2003 the newspaper, through an editorial written by its then director Ricardo Santamaría, reported on "interference" on an investigation it was carrying on the alleged irregularities in Banco del Pacífico, claiming that Police intelligence officials had obtained access to a draft of the report and sent it, through the Colombian National Police director, Teodoro Campo, to the then Interior Minister

Fernando Londoño Fernando Londoño Hoyos (born 27 December 1944) is a Colombian politician, lawyer, and economist. A longtime member of the Colombian Conservative Party, Londoño served as the 1st Minister of the Interior and Justice of Colombia from 2002 to 20 ...

, who was a chairman of the bank. Organizations defending freedom of the press expressed their contempt and their "deep concern". Campo denied any involvement, while minister Londoño claimed the draft was sent anonymously to him. On 18 November 2004, a Bogotá court sentenced columnist and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Lisandro Duque to three days in jail and a 470

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s fine, for not publishing a rectification after a sentence for

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

, when in column published 13 April 2003 Duque criticized Claudia Triana de Vargas, manager of a film production company. Instead of rectifying, Duque wrote in a piece published 7 September that he had "no enough evidence" to support his criticism. Duque appealed the court sentence.

''El Espectador'' in the 21st century

Presence on the web

On 29 May 1996 the then daily newspaper launched its website ''elespectador.com''. Its design format and layout have been changed several times In 2006 later added the .com to its logo, comments to the articles and user registration. Access hits to Elespectador.com grew 79% in 2007. On 7 March 2008 elespectador.com was revamped, setting up four "editions": online, latest news, news map and print version. It also improved the registration system and the

RSS feed RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...

s, and added tags,

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

, and

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

s taken from ''

Noticias Caracol ''Noticias Caracol'' (until 9 October 2007 ''Caracol Noticias'') is the name for all the national newscast from the news division of Caracol Televisión which carries the same name. It is broadcast four times on weekdays and twice on weekends. In ...

'', newscast from sister network

Caracol TV Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District, of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau ...

, uploaded to its

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. The website is built with

Drupal Drupal () is a free and open-source web content management system (CMS) written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Drupal provides an open-source back-end framework for at least 14% of the top 10,000 websites worldwide ...

. ''Elespectador.com'' received the Colombian Chamber of Computing and Telecommunications's ''Premio Colombia en Línea 2008'' award to the best online news website in the country. In April 2016, the journalist Maria Paulina Baena and the journal's opinion coordinator Juan Carlos Rincón released ''

La Pulla ''La Pulla'' is a Colombian political, satirical and opinion journalism program on YouTube, owned by the national newspaper ''El Espectador''. It was created by María Paulina Baena, Juan Carlos Rincón, Daniel Salgar, Santiago La Rotta and Juan ...

'', a

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and

opinion journalism Opinion journalism is journalism that makes no claim of objectivity. Although distinguished from advocacy journalism in several ways, both forms feature a subjective viewpoint, usually with some social or political purpose. Common examples inclu ...

channel.

From daily to weekly

Despite ''El Espectador'' had been the Colombian newspaper with the second highest circulation, after ''El Tiempo'', the financial difficulties worsened and in 1997 the Cano family sold most of their shares in Comunican S.A., ''El Espectador'' publishing company, to

, who at the time owned ''

Cromos ''Cromos'' is a Colombian varieties and photojournalism magazine, known for widely covering the Miss Colombia pageant on editions called ''Mini Cromos''. The magazine was founded in 1916 by Miguel Santiago Valencia and Abelardo Arboleda, both fro ...

'', Caracol Radio (later sold to Spanish group PRISA) and Caracol TV. Its headquarters moved to the Avenida El Dorado. In September 2001 ''El Espectador'' became a weekly newspaper. RWB stated that ''"media diversity suffered a heavy blow"'' when the newspaper ''"downgraded itself to a weekly."'' The

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

newspaper ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'' said: ''"''El Espectador'' is a standard in defence of freedom, the fight against drug trafficking and corruption."'' Since then, their editors Rodrigo Pardo, Carlos Lleras de la Fuente, Ricardo Santamaría, and Fidel Cano Correa tried to recover the financial balance and the newspaper's circulation. As a weekly, it was published on Saturdays, with Sunday's date. Counting with the free time readers have available on weekends, ''El Espectador'' focused on opinion, investigation, and analysis pieces, recovering its circulation, influence, and earnings. In 2007 Fidel Cano Correa stated in an interview with ''

Revista Semana ''Semana'' (Spanish: ''Week'') is a weekly magazine in Colombia. History ''Semana'' was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo (who would become president of Colombia in 1958) and that folded in 1961. It was relaunched by journalist Felipe ...

'' that ''" he return to a daily editionis just a possibility. We have been doing very well during the last three years, especially the last one."'' The Spanish group PRISA was considered as a strategic partner, but the negotiation failed when Santo Domingo refused to cede the control of the paper to PRISA. On 11 May 2008 ''El Espectador'' became a daily again, changing from

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

to tabloid format.

Daily focus, supplements, and alliances

Every day of the week, except Sunday, ''El Espectador'' devotes around 10 pages to a specific "focus": * Monday: ''Negocios'' (Business) * Tuesday: ''Deportes'' (Sports) * Wednesday: ''Internacional'' (World news) * Thursday: ''Vivir'' (Living) * Friday: ''Cultura'' (Culture) * Saturday: ''Gente'' (People) It also publishes three magazines, published once in a month each: ''Autos''/''Motos'', ''Espacios'', and ''Discovery Health''. On Mondays ''El Espectador'' publishes a 6-page edition of ''

The New York Times International Weekly ''The New York Times International Edition'' is an English-language daily newspaper distributed internationally by the New York Times Company. It has been published in two separate periods, one from 1943 to 1967 and one from 2013 to the prese ...

'',see sample
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Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

minisection. It also

syndicates A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

articles from ''

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Massach ...

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Design

Since 2004, Lucie Lacava's Lacava Design has been in charge of ''El Espectadors design for its print edition. ''El Espectador'' uses

Hoefler & Frere-Jones Hoefler&Co. (H&Co) is a digital type foundry (font design studio) in Woburn, Massachusetts (formerly New York City), founded by type designer Jonathan Hoefler. H&Co designs typefaces for clients and for retail on its website. The company was foun ...

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

and Gotham

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...

s since then.

Current management and employees

President

* Gonzalo Córdoba Mallarino

Publisher

* Fidel Cano Correa (2004–present)

Editorial board

Héctor Abad Faciolince Héctor Abad Faciolince (born 1958) is a Colombian novelist, essayist, journalist, and editor. Abad is considered one of the most talented post-Latin American Boom writers in Latin American literature. Abad is best known for his bestselling nove ...

* Ramiro Bejarano * Alejandro Gaviria * Armando Montenegro * Pilar Reyes

Editors

* Jorge Cardona, editor-in-chief * Fernando Araújo, Arts and People. * Olga Lucía Barona, Sports. * Angélica Lagos, International. * Leonardo Rodríguez, elespectador.com * Norbey Quevedo, Investigations. *

Juan David Laverde ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish language, Spanish and Manx language, Manx versions of ''John (given name), John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronoun ...

, Crime and Law * Hugo García Segura, Politics * Edwin Bohórquez, Business * Alex Marín, Bogotá

Regular columnists

=Sunday

=Monday

=Tuesday

=Wednesday

= *

Danilo Arbilla Danilo Arbilla (born 1943 in Casupá) is a Uruguayan journalist and entrepreneur. He was a former President of the Inter American Press Association who had shared the 1992 Maria Moors Cabot prize The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes are the oldest interna ...

* :es:Fernando Carrillo Flórez * Pascual Gaviria * Hernán González Rodríguez * Andrés Hoyos * José Fernando Isaza *

Patricia Lara Salive Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United State ...

* Cecilia Orozco Tascón * Hernando Roa Suárez * Juan Pablo Ruiz Soto * Arlene B. Tickner

=Thursday

= * Rodolfo Arango *

Luis Eduardo Garzón Luis Eduardo Garzón (nicknamed "Lucho") (born February 11, 1951 in Bogotá) is the former Mayor of Bogotá (2004–2007), a left-wing Colombian political activist and a former union leader. He is a former member of the Alternative Democratic ...

* Gustavo Gómez Córdoba * María Teresa Herrán * Ana Milena Muñoz de Gaviria * Rafael Orduz *

Ángela María Orozco Angela may refer to: Places * Angela, Montana * Angela Lake, in Volusia County, Florida * Lake Angela, in Lyon Township, Oakland County, Michigan * Lake Angela, the reservoir impounded by the source dam of the South Yuba River Fiction * Angel ...

* Uriel Ortiz Soto * Elisabeth Ungar Bleier * Klaus Ziegler

=Friday

=Saturday

Blog writers

* Tim Buendía * Julián Andres Rivera Sulez * Nicolas Acosta * Julia Londoño * Juan Herrera * Gonzalo gGuerrero * Joseph Aldemar Casañas Angulo

Syndicated columnists

Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza (, ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His novel ''The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller and he has published 28 more books ...

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

Nicholas D. Kristof Nicholas Donabet Kristof (born April 27, 1959) is an American journalist and political commentator. A winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he is a regular CNN contributor and an op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. Born in Chicago, Kristof wa ...

Tomás Eloy Martínez Tomás Eloy Martínez (July 16, 1934January 31, 2010) was an Argentine journalist and writer. Life and work He was born on July 16, 1934 in San Miguel de Tucumán and is generally considered an influential and innovative figure in Latin America ...

Former Publishers

* Ricardo Santamaría (2003) * Carlos Lleras de la Fuente (1999–2002) * Rodrigo Pardo (1998–1999) * Juan Guillermo Cano and Fernando Cano (1986–1997) *

(1952–1986) * Gabriel Cano (1919 - 1923: Medellín edition; 1949 - 1958 Bogotá edition) *

Luis Cano Luis Ángel Cano Quintana (born 5 September 1999) is an Ecuadorian association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for S.D. Aucas. Career Club career Cano began his career at the local club Ciudad del Norte in Vinces. He ma ...

(1919–1949) * Fidel Cano Gutiérrez (1887–1919)