A Costa Rican-Style Community
“We believe that we have a direct, honest and real relation with our readers,” said Executive Director of The Voice of Guanacaste newspaper, Emiliana Garcia.
The Voice of Guanacaste (or its Spanish name, La Voz de Guanacaste), first began in 2002 with the name of The Voice of Nosara. Four years later, a couple from the United States, John S. Johnson and Susan Short, acquired the newspaper with aspirations of giving financial stability to the near closing paper. As it turns out, they were not only successful in stabilizing the newspaper financially but also in gaining more loyal readership.
“Thanks to the support of local businesses, financing from the Johnsons and our faithful readership, the newspaper has continued to grow,” Garcia stated.
Due to the major success of the paper and the growing popularity, in 2013 The Voice of Nosara officially became The Voice of Guanacaste with a monthly distribution of 4,000. Sometimes, the monthly distirbution can be as much as 5,000 if the paper has a special feature. The newly revamped paper now publishes news stories on, not just the village of Nosara, but the neighboring communities, as well.
The communities now covered by the newspaper include:
- Santa Cruz
- Tamarindo
- Nosara
- Sámara
- Nicoya
- Hojancha
- Liberia
Garcia noted that The Voice of Guanacaste, “also maintains a presence in Carrillo, Nandayure, La Cruz, Bagaces and Cañas. Our goal is to actively cover the entire province of Guanacaste by 2020.”
The Voice of Guanacaste has been, and continues to be, a very unique newspaper. This newspaper is the only regional paper in the entire country that delivers both investigative and data journalism.
“We have experience conducting investigations on matters of health, the environment, gender, politics, sports and real estate. We also produce features, interviews, Solution Journalism and light content on almost any kind of topic: Tourism, Food, Sports, police news, politics, and human rights,” Garcia stated.
The Voice of Guanacaste is comprised of just nine dedicated workers: five full-time employees, two interns, and two volunteers. Each and every one of the workers devote their time to not only interviewing, investigating and writing stories for the newspaper, but they also put forth great effort in order to have a close relationship with their readers as well.
Some ways in which the workers at The Voice of Guanacaste put effort into forming a valued relationship with readers is by:
- Talking with readers in-person at community events
- Having the events and/or workshops be free or little cost to encourage attendance
- Connecting with them over social media
- Inquire about the readers’ opinions on various topics
Focusing on the readers is a major priority of the paper. Knowing who their audience is, learning what they enjoy reading about, and understanding what is important for them is crucial for this Costa Rican paper.
“Costa Rica is, like all the other Latin American countries, a collectivistic society. In collectivistic countries, trust, loyalty, personal relations and networking is essential,” stated Hofstede Insights, a company that provides extensive information in regards to the culture of countries all across the globe.
Trust, loyalty, personal relations, and networking are both a cultural value in Costa Rican society, as well as for The Voice of Guanacaste. The paper has exhibited these four essential concepts by making the newspaper a nonprofit since 2015.
Garcia explained that this was done in order to ensure both editorial integrity and independence.
When discussing the difficulty of working for a community newspaper in the town that she resides in, Garcia said, “ It is sometimes hard for the journalist to write about certain people or places or topics when you know the owner or have a friend of the person interviewed or you are part of a sport group that is under investigation. Many times doing your job could mean losing a friend or at least deteriorate the relation”.
The Executive Director continued on and expressed that the freedom the journalists have at her paper, due to the freedom in Costa Rica, is exceptional.
“Our journalists have the freedom to not accept an assignment if they feel it could have a potential conflict of interest with the paper or put their personal life at risk. But many other people understand it is your job and [are cooperative] as long as it is done professionally and ethically,” Garcia said.
The Reporters Without Borders Organization established a World Press Freedom Index of all 180 countries, which exemplify the accessibility of the freedom that journalists have in a particular country. This index was made by compiling numerous complex elements.
But to put it simply:
- The index is created, yearly, by assembling responses based on a questionnaire answered from experts in each given country.
- Next, the various criteria from the 87-part questionnaire are evaluated.
- Finally, each country receives a score ranging from 0 to 100, the best score would be a 0 and the worst score would be 100.
“The Latin American country with the best record on respecting human rights and free expression, Costa Rica is a remarkable exception in a region characterized by violent crime and corruption,” stated the 2017 World Press Freedom Index from The Reporters Without Borders Organization.
The country receiving the best World Press Freedom Index score for 2017 was Norway with a score of 7.60. North Korea received the worst score with a whopping 84.98. The United States landed a score of 23.88, which ranked 43 out of all 180 countries evaluated. And Costa Rica earned quite an impressive score of 11.93, which placed the country at a 6 out of 180 country rating.
Garcia explained that working for a smaller newspaper like The Voice of Guanacaste has great benefits because one is able to see the direct impact that they are having on your very own community.
“Community papers are important to help keep a healthy democracy, a good sense of what is happening in local communities, to bring answers that national papers don’t usually bring, to dissolve rumors and plant facts, to engage communities in conversations that are much needed,” Garcia stated.
As long as there are communities of people, there is news, and therefore there is a drive to know the truth and to be informed. Community newspapers are both necessary and crucial in order to provide information for citizens of each and every community, across all nations.
