UNESCO in Chile brought together media, academia and civil society around press freedom

The commemoration began on 4 May with the opening of the 13th Autumn Radio School 2026, an initiative led by the Municipality of Santiago, through its Deputy Directorate of Culture and the Radio School Programme. The activity brought together radio stations from the neighbourhoods of Centenario, República, Plaza Almagro, Ejército, Brasil, Franklin and Santa Isabel, with the aim of strengthening community communication and promoting radio and digital tools for the social development of local communities.

During the day, Sergio Pinto, from the UNESCO Regional Office in Santiago, delivered a talk on the challenges facing community media in strengthening pluralism, civic participation and social cohesion.

On 12 May, attention turned to the seminar "Journalism at Risk: Dialogues on the Challenges of Press Freedom in Chile", co-organized by Radio Universidad de Chile and the Coalition for the Strengthening of Freedom of Expression, with the support of the Embassy of Germany. The event addressed the safety of journalists, the impact of new technologies, and collective strategies to promote freedom of the press and freedom of expression from civil society.

The opening included the participation of Esther Kuisch Laroche, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Santiago, who underscored the fundamental role of professional, ethical and independent journalism in verifying facts, opening spaces for dialogue, giving visibility to diverse voices and helping societies face their tensions without falling into violence or disinformation.

The meeting included the panel "From diagnosis to action in the practice of journalism", focused on the safety of journalists and the impacts of new technologies, with representatives from Wikimedia Chile, the Observatory of the Right to Communication, the National Institute of Human Rights and the Chilean Journalists Association. In addition, the panel "Dialogues from civil society: collective strategies" addressed proposals to strengthen freedom of the press and freedom of expression from within communities, together with journalists' networks, community media and civil society organizations.

The programme concluded on 15 May with the World Press Freedom Day Meeting, organized by the UNESCO Chair on Media, Communication and Citizenship at Diego Portales University, UNESCO, and the Chilean Association of Communication Researchers (INCOM). The event brought together academics, researchers and representatives of national and international organisations to reflect on the main challenges facing the information ecosystem in Chile and Latin America.

During the event, the study "News deserts in Chile", developed by CIP-UDP together with the Gabo Foundation, was presented. It included comments from the Association of Broadcasters of Chile (ARCHI), the Association of Community Radios of Chile, among others. The event concluded with a panel on measuring press freedom.

Also during the session, the study "News deserts in Chile", developed by CIP UDP together with the Gabo Foundation, was presented, including a comparative analysis of five Latin American countries. In addition, the panel "Measuring press freedom: the Chapultepec Index, Voces del Sur and Reporters Without Borders in comparative perspective" was held, with specialists from the University of Chile, the Autonomous University of Chile, the Inter American Press Association, among others.

As Kuisch Laroche stated: "At UNESCO, we maintain that information is a public good. And defending that principle is fundamental."

In this context, UNESCO will continue to promote spaces for cooperation and dialogue among media, academia, civil society and public institutions in order to strengthen the conditions that make a free, safe and independent press possible.