ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades, Latin America has experienced an unprecedented period of political stability and consolidation of democratic regimes. Long gone is the proliferation of military dictatorships, frequent coups d’état and lifetime dictators. It has not been an easy process and there is still a long way to go regarding the strengthening of democratic institutions, but the fact is that all Latin American countries, except Cuba, are ruled by elected governments. During the democratization period, journalism has evolved throughout the region toward an independent and aggressive style, more attuned with the role of the free press as a fundamental tool with the checks and balance necessary for a working democracy. This chapter will focus on five representative cases of newspapers emblematic of that evolution. The papers analyzed here had a leading role during the political transition in their countries, not only contributing to democratization, but also as driving forces of modernization of the rest of the media in their countries.
