Lecture by a Colombian journalist at the Faculty of Journalism

On Monday, November 17, the Foreign Press Department gave a lecture by
Carlos Guillermo Contreras, a Colombian radio journalist (W Radio Colombia). A brief summary of the lecture and answers to questions:

“Radio journalism is fascinating. Live broadcasts have to be prepared right now, and this is serious pressure. A journalist prepares for an interview, using his sources, his database, so that he can call someone for a comment for the “breaking news”. Often this news is impossible to predict, and accordingly, there is no way to prepare for it. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was warned in advance, many journalists were ready, but when the day came, it was necessary to react with lightning speed.”

“When I was trained in journalism, I was told that a journalist should not have his own opinion, that a journalist is a bridge between information and the audience; that one should limit oneself to reporting WHAT happened, when, how, why, and who the actors were. But now I see (and not only me) that journalism has changed completely, because today journalists are expected to go beyond the usual reporting. Wisely and cautiously, but journalists go beyond.”

”An example from your country: many Western media outlets – BBC, CNN and others – have decided to call Russia’s actions an “invasion”. Many media outlets outside the West are using Russian narratives about a special military operation in which Russia is taking back its territory. We, the Latin American media (not all, but most), have followed the Western media in speaking of “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”. By using one or another terminology, a journalist expresses an opinion, informing about the facts. The same is true in the case of the war between Israel and Gaza, which is an even more sensitive topic for many, and in the case of Venezuela (I am originally from Venezuela, but I live and work in Colombia), where we take a position, calling the government in that country a “dictatorship”.

“Working on the radio is a miracle. Live broadcasts do not forgive mistakes, do not tolerate delays, everything must be ready “right now”. Russia is invading Ukraine. What should I do? First of all, contact journalists in Ukraine.”

“I’ll show you my contact database. If you want to be a journalist, you should also have such a database with the numbers of presidents, prime ministers, journalists. It is very important to have such a database. Nothing compares to contacts with local journalists, because they are the key to everything else, they can give any contact, they can give another journalist, with the necessary contacts.”

“I started collecting a contact database when I started doing journalism, in Chile, during the presidential elections there. You start collecting your contact database where you work. Don’t stop at one contact: the more names in your database, the better for you. In Brazil, journalists are usually very busy. They tell me directly that they can’t always help. But I have a database of about 50 journalists in Brazil: if one doesn’t help me, I’ll turn to another, and I won’t have to constantly bother the same one.”

“If you can’t figure out the situation from the beginning, don’t know who to turn to, read the local media to understand who the main figures in the process you are interested in are. The world’s leading media resources will also come in handy, they will let you understand who exactly you should invite for an interview.”

“Our audience addresses us with the words: “Enough of Gaza, enough of Ukraine, Colombia is important to us.” We cannot ignore such requests, we have to understand them. Even if it is very important, we cannot report on Ukraine all the time. The exception is the first anniversary of the war (February 24, 2023), when we devoted the whole day to Ukraine. At other times, we have to dose the Ukrainian topic.”

“There are only two countries of global importance in our region: Brazil and Mexico. Others often find themselves out of the world media’s attention. The crisis in Venezuela may be in the spotlight for a week or two, and then they forget about it. The Nobel Prize for Maria Corina Machado is similar. Latin Americans sometimes complain that Gaza, Ukraine, Syria are the main focus of attention, and no one is interested in our problems.”

“It’s hard when people cry on my air: civilians, children, women. It was not easy to report on the massacre in Bucha. When someone demands that journalists be robots, I say that we were not born journalists, but were born people.”

“The most important thing for me is human life. If someone systematically, purposefully kills, tortures, I cannot calmly react to this. Fortunately, we can speak out on this topic, say that what Russia is doing is unacceptable. “But if emotions take over me, if I breathe heavily into the microphone, if I cry, then it’s a big mistake. A guest can afford it, but not a journalist.”