Bienvenidos and Welcome

Bienvenidos:

Recent events in Ecuador have revealed the fragility of a political system which has faced crisis throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. For generations, Ecuadorian media has endorsed a version of events pushed by groups with clear agendas and little space for objectivity. The media discourse has shown little regard for important elements that have influenced those recent government changes. Paradoxically, Ecuadorian civil society has reflected a new perception of region politics, acknowledging the disenchantment among citizens in the face of evidence of almost endemic corruption, and reflecting a generalized ethical crisis.
Recently the so-called “turn to the left” in Latin America, has evidenced a clear ideological polarization and a clash of communicational strategies. The so-called Chavism has become the narrative reference for media coverage and Latin American political discourse. The “Left -leaning” governments of the area, have faced great opposition in the traditional mass media. In consequence, official and traditional media have been eclipsed by alternative proposals for political discussion that seem to embody the population’s discontent.
The blogosphere, with its continuous updating and an informal and subjective style, is invited to catalyzed citizen participation and anti-establishment activism. Furthermore, bloggers – -as carriers of insurgent narratives– had constituted a strong self-referential community that is modifying the media landscape, renewing the cultural sphere by recovering notions of identity while adapting the global influences from the many Ecuadorians living overseas as a consequence of economic migration. In front of the maniquean position of the media, one can recognize the blogosphere as a key space for condensation and intersection of multiple nets of power and cultural production. This is why we are here.