The two Salvadoran newspapers selected for this research are Diario El Salvador and El Diario de Hoy, both in their digital versions; these media represent completely opposing stances in terms of their editorial lines (Ávalos, 2023). The first is characterized by the concept of “high parallelism” and is a media outlet founded by the Government of El Salvador since Nayib Bukele assumed the presidency (Ávalos, J, 2020; Alvarado, et al., 2022; Ávalos, 2023), while the second is classified as “Counter- parallelism”[1] and is one of the oldest media outlets in the country (López Vallecillos, 1987; Pérez and Carballo, 2013; Rockwell and Janus, 2003; Wolf, 2019) and currently represents a critical view of the Salvadoran government, giving voice to opposition sectors and civil society.
Both have active journalists specifically dedicated to journalism, producing and publishing news daily, in addition to other media products such as reports, chronicles, and supplements. Diario El Salvador is funded both privately and publicly (Quintanilla, 2023)[2], while El Diario de Hoy is privately funded, as the government of Nayib Bukele withdrew public funding from them in 2019 (El Faro, 2020).
A study conducted by six journalists from different media outlets, in coordination with the Ciclos de Actualización para Periodistas (CAP) training program, shows through monitoring 400 front pages between October 19, 2020, and November 26, 2021, from Diario El Salvador, that it is a state-run outlet used as a propaganda tool for the government of Nayib Bukele. This study was conducted using a database where 2,897 front-page contents were cataloged (Alvarado, et al., 2022). Both Herrera (2022) and Ávalos (2020) agree that Diario El Salvador, Canal 10, and Radio Nacional form a network of state-run media that primarily aims to promote the government of Nayib Bukele, and they are not public media as it has been portrayed to the public.
As for El Diario de Hoy, it would be part of what was known as media corporatism in El Salvador, which maintained a relationship system with economic and political powers, leading, in the 1990s and early 2000s, to the emergence of an oligarchic, conservative, and highly concentrated media system, something that, according to Becerra and Mastrini (2009), was not only happening in El Salvador but in all of Central America.
However, it can no longer be said that El Diario de Hoy still represents political and economic power, as there has been a reconfiguration of these powers (Aguasvivas and Vaclav, 2021; Baldovinos, 2021). It is no longer in the same hands, and there is no direct relationship with this media outlet. While it cannot be called “opposition,” there are tensions between this media and the current power brokers.
In conclusion, Diario El Salvador has a 1) state-based ideological orientation that supports the government; its 2) editorial policy statement promotes a plural vision of voices, although in practice it reflects a pro-government stance aligned with Bukele’s administration, without questioning it—this connects with the next point, 3) current journalism practices. While there are no in-depth studies on this due to the outlet’s relatively recent creation, the journalistic study by Alvarado et al. (2021) provides clear indications of this trend. 4) Political advocacy is high, as it is one of the most widely read media outlets in El Salvador. 5) Media ownership lies with the state. 6) Media freedom and independence, among other aspects, are subordinated to the state and its advertising interests.
On the other hand, El Diario de Hoy, although it has historically shown a strong inclination toward powerful interest groups, is no longer aligned with them, as previously explained. Its 1) ideological orientation is based on media liberalism, functioning as a commercial outlet; 2) its editorial policy statement is conservative and focused on neoliberal principles; 3) its current journalism practices follow traditional daily news routines, with dedicated journalists regularly producing content for both web and print; 4) political advocacy, despite a decline in popularity, it remains one of the oldest newspapers in the country and continues to have one of the highest circulations and readerships nationally and internationally; 5) media ownership is private; 6) media freedom and independence, among other factors, depend on advertising and certain economic sectors, but not on the state.
References
Aguasvivas, L., & Vaclav, M. (2021). Consolidando el poder en El Salvador: El caso de Nayib Bukele. Ecuadro Debate , 157-173.
Alvarado, J., Baires, R., Cuéllar, L., Vichez, G., & Portillo, D. (4 de Marzo de 2022). Las 400 portadas que Diario El Salvador regaló al bukelismo. Revista Factum, págs. https://www.revistafactum.com/las-400-portadas-bukelismo/.
Ávalos, A. (16 de Octubre de 2020). No es comunicación pública, es intervencionismo estatal. Revista Factum https://www.revistafactum.com/comunicacion-publica-intervencionismo/.
Ávalos, A. (2023). El periodismo salvadoreño de posguerra: Auge y consolidación de la prensa digital. Virtualis, 28-54.
Ávalos, J. (19 de Octubre de 2020). El oficialista Diario El Salvador nace como sociedad anónima ligada a CEL y sin controles públicos. Revista Factum, https://www.revistafactum.com/cel-diario-elsalvador/.
Baldovinos, R. (2021). Nayib Bukele: populismo e implosión democrática en El Salvador . Andamios, 233-255.
Becerra, M., & Mastrini, G. (2009). Los monopolios de la verdad. Descifando la estructura y concentración de los medios en Centroamérica y República Dominicana . Buenos Aires: Prometeo Libros.
El Faro. (30 de Julio de 2020). Bukele amenaza al periodismo. El Faro, https://elfaro.net/es/202007/columnas/24691/bukele-amenaza-al-periodismo.htm.
Herrera, L. (03 de 15 de 2022). Medios públicos: ¿un sueño irrealizable en El Salvador? Obtenido de Asociación de Radiodifusión Participativa de El Salvador [ARPAS]: https://arpas.org.sv/2022/03/medios-publicos-un-sueno-irrealizable-en-el-salvador/
López Vallecillos, I. (1987). El periodismo en El Salvador. Bosquejo histórico-documental, precido de apuntes sobre la prensa colonial hispanoamericana. San Salvador: UCA Editores .
Pérez, R., & Carballo, W. (2013). El mapa de medios en El Salvador. Todo queda en familia. En Comunicación, información y poder en El Salvador: Claves para la democratización (pp. 45-76). San Salvador .
Quintanilla, J. (28 de Julio de 2023). El diario infestado de Nuevas Ideas recibió $7.4 millones de dinero público. FOCOS TV, https://focostv.com/el-diario-infestado-de-nuevas-ideas-recibio-7-4-millones-de-dinero-publico/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJC1FNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXbmVyDnqUrsEMvTtm43od5-B8FSheX48CtN2qR4FJRJI33Al61ENvxcKg_aem_Z0Vve4yzr6zZG6JnQVMhpQ.
Rockwell, R., & Janus, N. (2003). El Salvador´s Newly Respun Corporativsm. . En R. Rockwell, & N. Janus, Media Power in Central America (pp. 30-51). Illinois : University of Illinois Press.
Wolf, S. (2019). Spoilers of the Peace: Elites and the News Media in El Salvador (1992-2019). Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe, 15-39.
[1] It is important to consider the history and what El Diario de Hoy represented for El Salvador, as for many years, since its creation, it was a private media outlet that supported the governments in power, as long as they were right-wing and neoliberal. During the Civil War era, its publications were against the guerrilla and the left, reinforcing the right-wing ideals that polarized the world during the Cold War. This newspaper has changed its stance toward the government since the arrival of the left-wing FMLN party to the presidency and has maintained this line of opposition during Nayib Bukele’s administration.
[2] According to a journalistic investigation, Diario El Salvador received money from 98 government institutions, from four state-owned companies affiliated with the Executive, and 25 of its financiers are officials who, at the same time, are militants, founders, or leaders of the ruling party. These officials purchase advertising space paid with public funds through contracts agreed upon with the legal representative of the media outlet; this occurred between 2020 and 2023.