The challenge of
interconnecting study programs with current events is a commendable
undertaking. Nowadays, one very common difficulty faced by young people is how
to relate what they see at school with the realities faced by their families
and the communities to which they belong. That is reflected in a often-repeated
question that is never far from the minds of school drop-outs: What use is
going to school?
School ceases to be a place
of learning by rote memory to become a forum where students learn to better
understand what is happening at the individual and societal levels. For that
reason, the efforts of El Mundo
newspaper to distribute 14,000 copies a day (2011 figures), working to combine
learning with the news, have an enormous impact in terms of education and
information.
Young people who are better
prepared and better informed grow into citizens who are more participatory,
responsible, and aware of the reality that surrounds them.
GOALS SOUGHT
This initiative reflects
the role of the newspaper, as a mass-media outlet, to assume joint
responsibility in education. By handing out daily educational materials that
interconnect the contents of study programs with everyday events, this
initiative works to help strengthen the capacity for reflection, criticism, and
assessment of students and teachers, to promote the development of tolerance,
coexistence, and democratic values. Thus, the initiative works to create
democratic awareness among students and teachers, and to foster their interest
in participating in the public life of their communities.
WHAT IT INVOLVES
The initiative focuses on
the daily distribution of 14,000 copies of El
Mundo newspaper with specific contents for students and teachers at more
than 118 places of learning. The daily deliveries of educational material are
accompanied by courses for the teachers, so they can learn how to use the
material, and by various school-press workshops where the students receive
support for producing their own youth newspapers.
TARGET AUDIENCE
El Mundo
newspaper sees itself as a media outlet at the service of democracy;
consequently, its public is all citizens, meaning any inhabitant of the territory
who is subject to rights and duties. Within that broad public, El Mundo targets its “Educar mientras
se informa” strategy at children and young people aged between 5 and 20 who
attend public schools in rural and urban municipalities of Antioquia.
ACHIEVEMENTS
El Mundo is
a newspaper with the chief mission of upholding the rights and duties of
freedom of expression and true and timely information for the defense of
democracy. Thanks to its pedagogical approach, the reading of El Mundo in the street and in the
classroom has not only helped improve reading and understanding skills, it has
also provided readers with an awareness of a reality that should not be alien
to them, in which they can get involved and participate.
In addition, the
initiative has also promoted a more critical reading of the newspaper itself. A
newspaper is invariably a text that lends itself to debate, to controversy,
much more so than a school book or scientific treatise. We believe that one
basic civic skill is the critical capacity that arises from reading the
newspaper.
SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES IN
WHICH THE PARTICIPANTS COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE MEDIA
As a part of the
initiative, during 2011, 30 school-press workshops were held (each with a
duration of two weeks) at 30 different institutes of education. Eight hundred
and forty students learned to write their own school newspapers, and one was
jointly produced at each participating school (for a total of 30 newspapers).
Each newspaper was printed and distributed free-of-charge among the entire
school community.
As for the readership of El Mundo newspaper, since 2011 and
during 12 weeks (three months) of each school semester, a daily average of
14,000 copies were handed out, from Monday to Friday, at 118 institutes of education
in Antioquia. Each copy contains additional teaching materials, according to
the education campaign of the day, such as jigsaw puzzles, posters, playing
cards, pages for coloring, etc.
CHANGES IN THE WAY THE
PARTICIPANTS UNDERSTAND AND USE THE MEDIA
For most of the children
and young people who receive copies in their classrooms, this is their first
contact with the non-sensationalist press. The initiative’s follow-up program
has shown that, on the first days, the students do the activity indicated by
their teachers and then discard the rest of the paper. But after a few days,
not only are they pleased to receive the paper: they read or make use of different sections
(crosswords, pastimes, leading questions) in their spare time. When distribution
stops, the students demand newspapers for themselves and their homes. As for
the students who attend the school-press workshops, their pride in seeing the
results of their efforts in print is evident. They also note the importance of
making themselves heard, upon seeing the consequences of what they have
written.
During 2011, “Educar
mientras se informa” had several sources of funding, including funds from
the newspaper itself and from public, private, and civil-society donors.
This initiative was carried
out with an annual investment of approximately one million, eight hundred
thousand (1,800,000) U.S. dollars. In 2012, however, because of the change in
municipal and regional authorities, there was a major cutback in funding; as a
result, some 1,400 copies a day were distributed during the first half of the
year. This represented an investment of two hundred and fifty-nine thousand
(259,000) U.S. dollars.
EVALUATION AND RESULTS
Evaluations are carried out
by the initiative’s own organizers through qualitative and quantitative
surveys. Among the reported results, teachers were said to have changed their
negative view of the media and to have accepted El Mundo’s proposal by adopting the paper as teaching material in
their classes.
The students increased
their interest in their surrounding reality. The older students developed a
much more participatory and critical attitude. The younger students overcame
their fear of “reading the paper,” which they previously saw as an activity for
adults. Even the smallest children became familiar with the newspaper and,
before they knew how to read, were thumbing through the papers and “reading”
the pictures.
The experience of the
school journalism workshops, in addition to their educational value for the
participants, proved to be an initiative that triggered important dynamics
within each school (identity, sense of belonging, problem recognition, good
practices, and talents) and – since each school also received the work of the
other students and they were thus able to increase their understanding and
awareness of other realities – between the different participating schools.
RISK FACTORS
The
risks identified within this initiative can be classified into three groups:
Economic factor: as can be seen, the program is very robust and
funding for projects of this kind depends entirely on the sponsors’
understanding of the goals set.
Political factor: given the need for relations with local
administrations and their education departments, the newspaper must remain
respectful without sacrificing its independence and critical capacity.
Ethical factor: for the newspaper to forget its joint
responsibility with education and begin inserting (on account of the revenue it
would generate) advertising copy that is exaggerated or unsuitable for
educational establishments. For El Mundo,
joint responsibility takes precedence over any economic gain.
FUTURE PLANS
During the preparation of this portfolio, El Mundo concluded the legal transfer of stock to FundaMundo, a nonprofit organization of a strictly educational nature. This foundation has taken charge of the initiative and was created with the purpose of “promoting or pursuing all activities related to social communication that encourage the exercise of free and impartial journalism, together with those related to the promotion, production, and/or mass development of educational projects and programs in different fields of knowledge, guided by the goals set for education in Colombia and with the aim of contributing to the emergence of participatory, thinking citizens who are committed to strengthening our cultural identity and to the defense of common interests and Colombian democracy” (Statutes of FundaMundo, Art. 4).
In addition, they hope to establish partnerships with other regional media outlets to sell their educational materials and give the project a nationwide scope. They will also continue to work for synergies with other foundations and corporations for the joint development of educational campaigns.
PERSON IN
CHARGE: Irene Gaviria Correa. Editora General. “El Mundo”
Newspaper. ediciongeneral@elmundo.com.
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