According to data from the Immigration Department of the Ministry for the Interior and Public Safety (2020), the number of visas granted between 2000 and 2006 was under 50,000. It started to grow from 2012 (107,372) and reached a peak of 438,222 visas in 2018; however, it decreased to 328,211 in 2019. This has had an effect on the creation of new communities within the country. Between 2000 and 2019, the largest number of visas were granted to immigrants from Peru (27%), followed by Venezuela (18%), Colombia (13%), and Haiti and Bolivia (both 11%).
Among migrant media, immigrants have found a space to talk to their own diasporas within the country with independent media projects, such as community channels, low coverage radios, and printed newspapers. All these projects are self-managed, whether by individual initiatives, or by groups with diverse motivations, such as answering to the discrimination they have received in the country, giving information to newcomers, or sharing their migrant experiences (Yévenes Vivianco, 2018). For instance, the Haitian community has various independent initiatives: the radio channel Konbit FM, broadcasting in Spanish and Creole; a television show within the local channel in the district of Quilicura; the YouTube channel ANYTV, which is produced, edited, and presented by a Haitian for other migrants; and a weekly show in Universidad Austral de Chile’s [Austral University of Chile’s] radio, an initiative created by young people from this Caribbean nation.
Media received criticism for being discriminatory against Haitian migration coverage (Dorsainvil, 2019). In order to correct that criticism and promote integration, some mainstream outlets took measures, such as Copesa’s tabloid La Cuarta, which hired a Haitian anchor for a news show posted on their website. The morning show Bienvenidos,meanwhile, had a sociologist who had immigrated from Haiti for almost five months on their panel.
Since 2015, the self-sustained radio Charanga Latina from Antofagasta – created by a young Colombian entrepreneur – exists in the north of Chile. It was originally online, but has since moved to FM, alongside a mobile app. It is financed through dance events under the brand of the radio, which has a team of nine people. They have declared that only 30 per cent of their audience is Chilean (Yévenes Vivianco, 2018). Another relevant case is El Vino-Tinto, a politically oriented newspaper founded in 2016 and developed by a team of professionals for the Venezuelan migrant population. It prints 5,000 copies per edition and is distributed at 85 points throughout Santiago. It also has a web version.
One of the oldest projects for migrants and tourists is the newspaper The Santiago Times, printed 1991–2014. It was born as a hobby for its creator and became the only medium to publish Chilean news entirely in English. According to their website, it has employed journalists who then moved to Reuters and The New York Times (The Santiago Times, 2020). After an economic crisis, a crowdfunding campaign assisted the publication in finally returning as a web outlet in 2016.
Concerning accessibility practices, The National Service for the Disabled, under the Ministry of Social Development and Families, is an entity that advises the media about good accessibility practices, among other functions. All open access television channels have sign language interpreters. The Regional Association of Television Channels has a news programme transmitted by 23 stations, with a guideline for inclusive topics, and with a co-anchor who uses sign language. The same project has a parallel website with an accessible configuration for users with diverse needs. The cable channel CNN Chile has in its regular programming a conversation programme called Conciencia Inclusiva, which approaches in each episode a topic related to disability, incorporating testimonies and specialists.
There is not a complete census of alternative media in Chile. During the 2019 protests, lists of recommended independent media were distributed, among them the project Piensaprensa and the collective Red Estudiantil de Información [Student information network], formed by university students. In addition, there is an organised network of alternative media: Red Alternativa de los Pueblos [Alternative Network for the People] that unites 18 media projects, all self-managed, varying from radio stations and programmes to newspapers, websites, magazines, and news agencies. The initiatives are rooted in collectives of diverse sizes and NGOs. For sustenance, some ask for funding from their own followers. A few projects have professional journalists. The network’s collaboration is evident in the case of radio programmes, as they are transmitted by other stations. Despite some members of the network working with printed editions, their main means of communication is the Internet. Their sites are hosted in different platforms with diverse levels of professionalisation, starting from blogs to websites with more advanced designs. The sites combine original content with articles extracted from other sources.
This network’s media projects coincide with its anti-capitalist agenda, as expressed through their editorials. For example, Radio HumedaLes and Radio Agüita says their existence is an answer to the concentration of media and a criticism to how mainstream media covers the issues concerning the network, like indigenous peoples, human rights, environment, feminism, and social justice. These are the topics where the different projects converge; some initiatives, meanwhile, have greater emphasis on only some. For example, Radio HumedaLes defines itself as a lesbian feminist radio programme; the newspaper El Pueblo, with a Marxist bent, stresses areas related to ideological education. One of the most common topics for the network is the situation of indigenous people. For instance, the radio programme Ayni presents contents in Aimara and Quechua. Among the ethnic groups existing in Chile, the most relevant is the Mapuche people, who have taken part in a historical conflict with the Chilean State for their autonomy, territories, and political representation. Members of the network are particularly critical of the way legacy media covers Mapuche people, arguing that it creates a narrative of criminalisation. The most significant project in this respect is Mapuexpress, formed in 2000 as a website by Mapuche professionals. What distinguishes them is their publications have communities as their direct source, through releases about their activities and problems. There have been other similar initiatives, which have since disappeared, while Mapuexpress has been running steadily for 20 years (Mapuexpress, 2020).
Alternative media is usually not in Santiago, but in cities to the north and south of the country. The focal points for local conflicts are in regions further away from the capital. Therefore, offices of these projects outside Santiago means their priority is local issues, and in-depth coverage of indigenous and environmental topics. Alongside the network, some projects are also associated with other initiatives with similar profiles. Outside the network, meanwhile, the channel Mata o te Rapa Nui, broadcast from and for Easter Island in Rapa Nui language, is worth mentioning for their focus on local issues.
