ABSTRACT
Colombia’s experience of the practice of public journalism dates back to November 1998, when Citizen Voices (Voces Ciudadanas), the country’s fi rst public journalism project, was initiated by the Pontifi cal Boliviarian University (Universidad Pontifi cia Bolivariana or UPB) in Medellín. This chapter explores how UPB, largely inspired by models of public journalism from the United States, instigated the fi rst public journalism activities in the country and has continued to lead exploration of how the principles and practices might help Colombia to address entrenched social problems. Despite the successes of Colombia’s various public journalism projects, the chapter describes how the practice of public journalism continues to be driven by an academic/professional partnership, rather than by media organizations alone.
