''Semana'' (Spanish: ''Week'') is a weekly magazine in
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
.
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 in 1983.
Development
Felipe López Caballero, the person who restarted the magazine, took two earlier Colombian magazines as models. One was Camargo's ''Semana''; the other was ''
:es:Alternativa'', a left-wing weekly published by Enrique Santos and
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...
. The foreign magazines that he strove to imitate were ''Time'' and ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
''.
Recalling the prestige that had been enjoyed by Lleras's magazine, López asked for, and was given, permission to use the same name.
The first issue came out on 12 May 1982. Its cover story was about terrorism.
Some of ''Semana''s most important reporting has been about
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...
, the drug trafficking kingpin. In the 1980s, López was one of the two "big whistleblowers and critics" of drug trafficking. Since then, however, the magazine has become less exclusively political.
Proceso 8000
''Semana''s coverage of
Proceso 8000, the unofficial name of the legal investigation of accusations that
Ernesto Samper
Ernesto Samper Pizano (born 3 August 1950) served as the President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998. From 2014 to 2017 he served as the Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). He is a lawyer, economist, academic and pol ...
's 1994 presidential campaign was partially funded with drug money, was the high point of the magazine's influence. Yet while the magazine covered Samper's activities with brutal honesty, López never fell out personally with Samper. Once he invited Samper and radio journalist
Julio Sánchez Cristo, a fierce Samper critic, to lunch in hopes of making peace between them. Samper told López "you have been very harsh
uro" and Sanchez injected that López had been harsh out of conviction, while he (Sanchez) had done it for money.
Recent years
In recent years, ''Semana'' has been critical of the administration of
Álvaro Uribe Vélez and has also taken on Colombian guerrilla and paramilitary groups. In May 2009, Semana opposed a possible second re-election of Uribe, arguing that "a third term ... would have serious institutional repercussions" and that keeping Uribe in power would only aggravate the "erosion of separation of powers that has taken place during these seven years." While acknowledging that "the popularity of the President ... is undeniable and probably deserved," ''Semana'' concluded that a third term for Uribe would, on the whole, be inadvisable.
On the occasion of its 30th anniversary in 2012, ''Semana'' was described as "one of the major and largest publications in the Americas" by Finanzas.com, which observed that its history had been "tied up with the most important events in Colombia" and that it had "recorded our country's most significant successes." Although there had been great changes in Colombia, the magazine's principles had "not changed in these thirty years."
Attempt on Calderon
In May 2013, Ricardo Calderon, the prize-winning investigative editor of ''Semana'', was surprised by gunmen, who shot "five bullets into his car ", but he escaped without injury. The Associated Press noted that at the time of the murder attempt Calderon had been working on an investigative series about "the scandalously luxurious life of military officers jailed for crimes including murder and crimes against humanity at Tolemaida army base." Although a great many local journalists in Colombia have been murdered over the last few decades, this was, according to the Associated Press, "the first attempt on the life of a ''Semana'' journalist in the magazine's 30 years and it sent shock waves through the news media and human rights communities because of Calderon's stature."
On October 9th, 2020 Revista Semana withdrew the possibility of writing opinions at the end of each articles, canceling the possibility of feedback on them.
Honors and awards
''Semana'' won the Premio Rey de España two years in a row, in 2007 and 2008. The 2007 award acknowledged the magazine's 25 years of investigative journalism. In 2008, the magazine won the award for a series of articles that uncovered the strong ties between political leaders and illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. The awards jury praised the magazine's "tireless research" and described their work as "a moral call to Colombia and the world."
The magazine's website has won several national and international awards, including the Círculo de Periodistas de Bogotá, Premio Rey de España, and Premio de la Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa. It has twice been a finalist for the Premio Iberoamericano de Periodismo Cemex-Fnpi.
In 2007, Semana.com won the Premio de la Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa for Internet news coverage. The prize was awarded for "La muerte de Carlos Castaño." In the same year, ''Semana'' won honorable mention in the category of human rights for "Torturas en el Ejército" and was a finalist in the opinion category.
In 2013, Ricardo Calderón of ''Semana'', José Navia of ''SoHo'', and Semana.com all won prizes from the Círculo de Periodistas de Bogotá. Semana.com won for "Cerro Matoso: mina rica, pueblo pobre" ("Rich Mine, Poor People") published in August 2012.
''Semana'', which has won several international prizes and has more than a million readers, is considered required reading for Colombia's political, economic, and cultural elite. "In the history of journalism in Colombia," reads a profile of López by a Colombian writer, "there is a 'before ''Semana'' and an 'after ''Semana'',' because, in effect, before May 1982 such a thing didn't exist. ... the press in this country was an extension of the political parties." The same profile notes that "at least 80 percent of all the political scandals that have occurred in Colombia in the last 30 years have been exposed by ''Semana''." ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' have all called ''Semana'' the best magazine in
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
.
Over time, the magazine ''Semana'' developed into Publicaciones Semana, a magazine group which publishes several other major periodicals in Colombia and neighboring countries. ''Dinero'' is Colombia's major economics and business magazine; ''
SoHo
SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
'' is its most successful men's magazine; ''
Fucsia'' is a women's magazine; ''Jet Set'' covers celebrity news; Semana Jr. is for children; Blog is for teenagers; and ''Arcadia'' is a cultural review. Each of these magazines has its own website: Dinero.com; Soho.com.co; Jetset.com.co; Revistaarcadia.com; Revistafucsia.com, and Blog.com.co. In addition, Publicaciones Semana runs the website Planb.com.co, a comprehensive online guide to entertainment and culture.
''Semana''s foreign periodicals include ''SoHo Ecuador'', which began publication in 2002; ''SoHo Costa Rica'', which was started in 2006; and ''Fucsia Ecuador'', which has been published since 2004.
The website Semana.com offers all the contents of the magazine ''Semana'' and also provides exclusive coverage of political and social developments. It is the second most visited website in Colombia.
On Thursdays and Fridays, the TV channel Cable Noticias runs a current-events program called ''Debates Semana'', run by Publicaciones Semana.
Semana's notable former columnists include
Héctor Abad Faciolince, Rafael Nieto, María Isabel Rueda, Hernando Gómez Buendía, and Alfredo Rangel.
Leadership
The editor-in-chief of ''Semana'' is Cristina Castro.
''Semana'' was directed by
Mauricio Vargas between 1983 and 1997, by
Isaac Lee Possin between 1997 and 2000, between 2000 and 2020. Vicky Dávila is its director since November 10, 2020.
The general director of the company that publishes it, Publicaciones Semana, is Elena Mesa Zuleta;
Its previous directors were Mauricio Vargas (1983 – 1997), Isaac Lee (1997–2000), Alejandro Santos (2000 – 2020) and Vicky Dávila (2020 - present). The director of Semana.com is Armando Neira.
See also
* ''
El Mundo''
* ''
El Espectador
''El Espectador'' () is a nationally circulated Colombian newspaper founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez in 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It was initially published twice a week, 500 issues each, but some years later became ...
''
* ''
El Colombiano
''El Colombiano'' () is the leading newspaper in Antioquia Department in Colombia whose headquarters are located in Medellín.
The first edition of this newspaper was published on February 6, 1912, which only had one page, 13 advertisements, but ...
''
References
External links
*
{{Publicaciones Semana S.A.
1946 establishments in Colombia
News magazines published in Colombia
Magazines established in 1946
Mass media in Bogotá
Spanish-language magazines
Weekly magazines