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Dominican Republic The Mass Media
Beginning in the early 1960s, the Dominican Republic
experienced a communications revolution. The spread of
radio,
television, and newspapers awakened the previously
isolated
countryside, stimulated rapid urbanization, and led to the
political mobilization of millions of people who had never
participated in politics before. In addition, since
Trujillo's
death in 1961, the Dominican media had been among the
freest of
all those in Latin America.
There were 123 radio stations--115 commercial and 8
government-sponsored--operating in the country in 1989. Of
these,
thirty-four stations operated in the capital city alone,
and half
that number broadcasted from the second city, Santiago.
Most
other secondary cities had several radio stations. All
stations
were government-licensed. The Dominican Republic's large
number
of stations ensured that every part of the island was
accessible
to radio broadcasting.
The advent of cheap transistor radios in the early
1960s
ushered in the communications revolution. Even poor
peasants,
eking out a subsistence living, could afford such a radio.
Transistor radios brought in the political news from the
capital
city and thus helped to integrate rural elements into the
national political life for the first time. Just as
important,
they also exposed Dominicans to the culture, the behavior,
and
the music of the outside world.
There were eighteen television channels, operated by
six
companies in 1989; two channels were government-owned, and
sixteen were private. All were government-licensed.
Although most
Dominicans could not afford a set of their own, those who
did not
own one often watched at neighbors' houses or in public
places,
such as bars or shops. Thanks to relay stations,
television
broadcasts originating in Santo Domingo could be
transmitted to
the interior.
The main newspapers were El Caribe and Listín
Diario. Both were dailies, published in the capital
city, and
both had circulations over 30,000. El Caribe was
moderate
and nationalistic; it was, for a long time, the main
newspaper in
the country. Listín Diario, founded in 1889 and
published
intermittently thereafter, was most recently revived in
1964. It
was more reformist and more critical of the government. It
established a reputation as a crusading paper and soon
matched
El Caribe in circulation.
Other major Santo Domingo newspapers were El
Tiempo,
El Nacional, and Última Hora. El
Tiempo was
conservative, El Nacional was more crusading and
nationalistic, and Última Hora had been launched
by
Listín Diario as an afternoon newspaper to
challenge El
Nacional. In Santiago there were two main newspapers:
La
Información, a conservative afternoon paper, and El
Sol, a moderate morning paper. Other cities had
smaller
papers, focused mainly on local news. The big circulation
dailies
all received the major wire services--Associated Press
(AP),
United Press International (UPI), Reuters, and others. As
a
result, their international coverage was often quite
extensive.
The largest weekly newsmagazine in the country was
Ahora,
which was owned by El Nacional.
Each main political party published its own small
newspaper
and aired its own radio program. The major trade unions,
professional associations, and interest groups also
produced
their own newspapers, although they often published
sporadically,
and some maintained public relations offices. The armed
forces
operated its own radio station, and the Roman Catholic
Church
owned and operated several radio stations and small
newspapers.
The Voice of America was widely listened to; Radio Havana
and
Radio Moscow also beamed broadcasts that could be heard
throughout the country.
Although the coverage of news stories was not always
entirely
professional, and although there had been attempts by
government
and the military over the years to intimidate, or even to
close
down, some papers and stations, by and large the Dominican
media
had been remarkably free, independent, and diverse since
1961.
They performed an important educational function in the
country,
and they exerted an important influence in mobilizing the
country
politically. In fact, the mass media had become one of the
most
important bulwarks of Dominican democracy.
Data as of December 1989
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