Abstract
This chapter focuses on some of the contemporary challenges of media policy that El Salvador faces in the context of both the digital age and in the need to advance to a more democratic society. First, the chapter delineates a brief characterization of the Salvadoran media landscape in the traditional, digital, and telecommunications industries. In each sector, the text highlights issues of media property concentration and the consequences in terms of diversity and pluralism in El Salvador. Second, it discusses several considerations regarding a pluralistic media system and individual rights to communication, taking into account the UNESCO (2008) indicators to evaluate media development in each country. The rights to communication include a variety of rights and possibilities to ensure people’s participation and expression in society. Third, the chapter then considers the potential of digital television transition to strengthen pluralism in the national media system, and its actual developments both in El Salvador and in Central America as a whole. Finally, the chapter outlines five major proposals for media and cultural policies to tackle the current challenges to promote the right to communicate and a multicultural democracy in the digital age.
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© 2014 José Luis Benítez
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Benítez, J.L. (2014). Pluralism, Digitalization and the Contemporary Challenges of Media Policy in El Salvador. In: Guerrero, M.A., Márquez-Ramírez, M. (eds) Media Systems and Communication Policies in Latin America. Palgrave Global Media Policy and Business. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137409058_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137409058_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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