Chile unrest: Why protesters rail against the system and media

On this episode of The Listening Post: Protesters in Chile turn against an unrepresentative elite – and that includes the media. Plus, in US prisons, inmates are getting the word on the inside, out.

Chileans rail against an unequal system & unrepresentative media

Chile is currently experiencing its largest demonstrations since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship almost 30 years ago.

The unrest was set off by a new tax on public transport. The larger, contextual issues include rising inequality and an unrepresentative political class, news outlets included.

There is a deep, lingering resentment of the media which goes back to the Pinochet era.

Chileans remember that the fourth estate failed them utterly back then – and they are saying that journalists still aren’t listening to them today.

Lead contributors:
Jorge Saavedra – Lecturer in Media, Culture and Society, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge
Consuelo Saavedra – Former anchor, TVN & Host, Radio Duna
Raul Rodriguez – Community radio host
Valerio Fuenzalida Fernandez – Professor, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

On our radar

Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Johanna Hoes about social media platforms and their right to post political campaigns.

America’s jailhouse journalists

More than two million people live within the American prison system, but the stories of what really goes on inside are seldom heard.

For journalists who have tried, access is the issue – with prison authorities usually controlling who gets in and what stories get out. But some prisoners are determined to make this a beat of their own.

The Listening Post‘s Flo Phillips on the ultimate inside story – prison journalism in the United States.

Feature contributors:
John J. Lennon – Prison journalist, Sing Sing Correctional Facility & Contributing Editor, Esquire Magazine
Troy Williams – Founder, San Quentin Prison Report & Founder, Restorative Media Project
Kerry Myers – Former editor, The Angolite & Deputy Executive Director, Louisiana Parole Project
Sam Robinson – Public Information Officer, San Quentin State Prison
Yukari Iwatani Kane – Advisor, San Quentin News & Co-founder, Prison Journalism Project