El Tiempo visit

Our visit to El Tiempo was also very interesting, and yet very different from El Espectador. Here, our visit was more like a tour, while in El Espectador we were totrally focused on the writing of the articles. In El Tiempo we were shown the production of the newspaper, but not the actual writing. What I liked most about this place was CityTV, and the fact that we got the chance to experience Live News. I did learn a lot in both experience, but I believe our visit to El Espectador was much more worthwhile for our course in publishing and writing, and it was much more enjoyable and interesting, this according to me. I also appreciate that in both editorial houses, we were treated very well by the employees.

Ian McEwan's Talk

It seems very appealing, to sit in front of an audience and answer questions about your books, and have intellectual discussions concerning themes, characters, and setting. This I experienced yesterday, when attending Ian McEwan’s conference at Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango. I, of course, was part of the audience, but it was still a very magical experience. I’ve never read any of his works, but after attending the talk yesterday, I feel like I must. McEwan seemed very particular as a writer, and this originality I admired. I liked, for example, what he had to say concerning swear words, and how they are completely useful devices. Finally, I thought it was incredible how McEwan said that for an author, writing is an experience of self-discovery and realization. In conclusion, there were many suggestions I shall take into account from now on, when trying to write something.

Visting El Espectador

Our trip to El Espectador was completely worthwhile. I realized Journalism is very complex, but also very interesting. I liked the fact that we were toured by one of the journalists, this way, our visit covered many areas. In general, all the people we met were kind and helpful when explaining us their jobs. I also liked that all of them seemed very proud of the newspaper, plus the fact that they valued things such as tradition and culture. They wrote their journalism from a romantic perspective, preferring to write profound and analitic pieces over updated news. This quality enhances their appreciation for good writing, and in a way, it persuased me to read their newspaper. El Espectador also seemed very concerned and aware of their audience, because, as we were told, they always tried to write in a way that would satisfy eager and curious readers. When our visit was over, I felt like I had learned so much about Journalism, and that I was really interested for our visit the next day, to El Tiempo.

What audience are they writing to?

El Tiempo is trying to approach colombians in general, and this it does by focusing on the news that is according to colombians' personal taste, such as Guerrilla, presidential elections, and Chavez. Most of the issues (at least those that appear in the Home page) are national or politics-related. Primarily focusing on politics is a way to form a viable audience.

El Espectador is very similar to El Tiempo, seeing how both of them are local newspapers, and perhaps each other's competition. Being national, they both a similar audience, and therefore a a similar approach to the news world. Yet El Espectador does a great usage of audio and visuals, so it is possible not only to read the news, but also to listen and watch. This is a good way to extend their audience. El Espectador also seems to have opinion-oriented titles as to interest the audience. Usually they use dramatic questions as the main titles so the individual is immediatly hooked. If not, as a title they quote something very important or very radical that a person said, usually regarding a very popular issue. In their Home page, they publish very dramatic issues, for example, today they showed images regarding the Holocaust.

Both of these newspaper can be well defiined according to their Home pages. Of all the news and issues they have, they try to if as much in their Home page, and this enhances gthe idea that they are trying to interest a smnay individuals as possible (and therefore have a viable audience).

Norma has a great focus on the present matters. That they are updated means that they try to approach the audience by something that really interests them (for example, they talk about Back To School discounts). They also seem to include children in their audience. This they do by referring to school utensils and children's books.

Lastly, Alfaguara is primarily focused on new or bestselling books and novels. The audience they are looking for should be greatly interested in reading and books in general. They are completely national, seeing how they only talk about Spanish literature.

In general, it is good that each of these publications exist both in print and in digital. It is good that they have a digital version, because that way they're able to update constantly and keep their audiencdes well informed.