Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: NEWS

Media Credit: Chase Martinez Guest speak Maria Ignacia Errazuriz of Santiago, Chile lectures about media issues in Latin America in the Radio, Television and Film Building Monday afternoon.

Mark down Chile as another country whose media is being bought up by large corporations, one Chilean dean said Monday.

"Competition is harder for mass media in Chile because these new companies have come in and things have changed," said María Ignacia Errázuriz, dean of the School of Communication at the Universidad de los Andes in Santiago, Chile.

Ignacia Errázuriz spoke to a group of North Texas students about mass media in Chile. The presentation is part of the Center for Spanish Language Media's presentation series on Media Issues in Latin America.

Ignacia Errázuriz teaches television-related classes at Universidad de los Andes and has led several professional projects. Her research interests include television production, quality in television and multimedia.

Ignacia Errázuriz began Monday's lecture by explaining Chile's current political situation. The country has a population of 6.4 million people and is a democracy.

"Chile is a leading country in Latin America. It may have a small population, but it has a growing economy," Ignacia Errázuriz said.

In Chile, television is the most important mass media in terms of advertisement consumption. The peak time for television consumption in Chile is around 9 p.m., which is the time of broadcast news and special reports, the most viewed types of shows in Chile. However, dissatisfaction has risen in recent years with these programs while American shows and reality television programs are on the rise.

According to Ignacia Errázuriz's presentation, there are 96 newspapers in Chile, five free sheets and 56 daily newspapers. Together, television and newspapers make up 80 percent of advertisement consumption.

Ignacia Errázuriz said radio is the largest medium in Chile. Almost every household in the country owns at least one radio. Radio in Chile reaches 85 percent of the population daily and has a target audience of working class citizens between the ages of 25 and 35.

Magazines do not make up a very large portion of media, Ignacia Errázuriz said, nor does the Internet, although Internet consumption is on the rise.

The mass medium in Chile suffered a decline in advertising in 1998 but recovered in 2001, she said. This had a strong affect on consumption of mass media and has caused many changes in advertising.

All media in Chile is operated for profit, even the Catholic television, which reinvests the money in television and into its university. However, in the last few years its numbers have been in the red.

Severo Camacho, a senior from Dallas, attended the lecture.

"I get something out of all the lectures, but I especially like it when there is an interactive audience and questions are asked," Camacho said.

The Center for Spanish Language Media will have two more events for the lecture series on Media Issues in Latin America. On April 28, there will be a presentation on Media Issues in Venezuela, and from June 1 to 13, there will be a Media Sales Institute meeting.

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