PAPER The Drum Beat - 21 - COLOMBIA - Telemedellin
 |
| The Drum Beat - 21 - COLOMBIA - Telemedellin Additional Information and Commentary By Adelaida Trujillo-Caicedo Citurna Producciones en Cine y Video Bogotá, May of 1999 adelaidatrujillo@cable.net.co 14. Colombia: Telemedellin Telemedellín is the only local public service channel in Colombia. Its mission is to offer educational and cultural programming only, with no advertising. The channel is totally funded by the major public institutions of Colombia's first industrial city. Since its first broadcast in December of 1997, it has managed to create a solid reputation of alternative, high quality programming for the city, facilitating a space for dialogue and cultural self-recognition for the inhabitants of a city torn for a decade by fratricidal violence and a national and international image as the haven for the Medellín drugs cartel. With major investment from the Mayor's office, the channel has five other partners: Empresas Publicas Publicas de Medellín (company in charge of the city's services ), Empresas Varias (in charge of waste handling and collection, as well as recycling cooperatives), the Instituto Tecnologico-ITM ( the technical education centre) and the Instituto para la Recreación y el Deporte - INDER ( the recreation and sports institute) Telemedellín was the result of a rigorous search, by the city authorities, for where communication investment would be most profitable from a social point of view. It was conceived as a programming alternative but mainly as a mechanism to accompany the many ongoing social change processes begun in the early eighties. These were targeted to heal Medellin from violence, acute social division and critical youth unemployment. It is an important component of the local development plan, Plan de Desarrollo, which is focused on searching for reconciliation and positive conflict resolution. Telemedellín's programming Today Telemedellín is, itself, part of a social change process. The channel has reinforced local identity and offers the chance for dialogue and interchange in a city that has many frontiers and divisions. The channel produces 50% of it's air time locally. The rest is acquired. This has proven very successful. In a recent evaluation poll the most common comment was ( now incorporated into the channel's identity): 'in Telemedellín, the city is visible (en Telemedellín la ciudad se ve)' Despite the channel not covering the entire metropolitan area ( Medellín plus ten municipalities in the Aburrá Valley) people from the metropolitan area identify it clearly because the channel tackles local issues and problems, facilitating spaces for dialogue. And a most essential element: it has given a voice to the youth of Medellín, particularly the population from the working class and marginal sector, protagonists and victims of the city's violence. Participation and dialogue are central to all of its locally produced programming: all the productions have open lines for public access, with particular emphasis during the direct broadcasts from studio. Some of its succesful programming includes:
"...we can say in all honesty that Telemedellín is an audience success, but with another perspective different from the ratings' traditional poitv of view : it has enormous prestige....people express pride when addressing the channel, and it has very quickly constructed a very strong identity... the key to success is that the clear public service philosophy with which it was created is respected, and that trust in the long term social investment is mantained..."Contact Ana Cristina Navarro Telemedellin Medellín anavarro@epm.net.co Tels: (57-2) 381 1991 |