By Catalina Arango

Although Colombian journalists are die-hard traditionalists and remain attached to old journalistic routines, the time has come for them to face their fear of change and begin the job of creating new visions for their audiences.

For many years, public life in my country has been seen as the exclusive province of political parties, traditional organizations, and government officials. And, on the whole, Colombian citizens have long been disinclined to involve themselves in politics and public life. But some Colombian citizens are tired of being treated as ignorant or as victims of the events that sweep over them; they want to be seen as participants and intelligent members of the public life. They are ready to make connections; they are learning the importance of deliberation; and, step-by-step, they are losing their fear of participating in public affairs.

Moreover, citizen audiences no longer see TV news reports as isolated dots in an empty space. Rather, they perceive them as threads in a complex net — connected, intersected, and superimposed. Events in Colombia have a past and a future, causes and consequences. They have visible and invisible faces. Television journalists in Colombia should take an active role in this process. They must begin thinking of their audiences as citizens in order to help convince them that they are citizens. Narratives and news reports should begin making the important connections, help create a better environment for public discussion, and reflect the agendas of the citizens they serve.

If journalism sees citizens as participants in public affairs, it can see them as participants in a bilateral communication process as well. In fact, citizens are participants from the beginning: they turn off their television sets, switch channels, and make choices about the programs they watch.

As a consequence, journalists should begin incorporating and promoting public deliberation in their own practices and in the affairs of the community. Although skeptics may ask whether Colombians are ready to deliberate, in fact, Colombian culture is full of discussions, conversations, and meetings. Colombians love to get together to converse with friends, coworkers, or neighbors. They have a great sense of local community. Colombians love to debate. They are, however, quick to impose their views on others and have difficulty with tolerance and respect for other people’s points of view.

These exchanges, however, take place in private. Colombian citizens are extremely wary of participating publicly because they believe that politics is reserved for government officials; street protests are for revolutionaries; and they, as common people, are too ignorant to take any public action.

It is here that journalism has a role — to help citizens acquire the skills of public deliberation and to provide spaces to make visible and audible their local conversations, concerns, and initiatives. Television journalism should be full of images and voices that are connected with citizens’ lives and narratives that give citizens the sense of having something to say.

In short, to think of their audiences as citizens, TV journalism in Colombia must pay more attention to what the public is thinking. Colombian television should use its images and sound bites to promote public judgment among Colombians. It must give Colombians ways to prioritize their problems, suggest alternatives for solving them, and create new visions for the country. The solution to the country’s crisis can come from this effort.

Catalina Arango, a Colombian journalist, spent six months at the Kettering Foundation last year as a Fanning International Fellow in Journalism and Democracy.