Call for Papers
Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference
March 2-5 2006
Vancouver, Canada

Progressive Television in Latin America

When City TV was founded in Bogotá, Colombia in 1999, it introduced new
concepts in television to Colombians. One was a new morning show called
Arriba Bogotá, which, unlike more staid news shows on other channels,
incorporated the participation of the television audience into the
show. Another new inclusive approach to programming was the
introduction of the City-cápsula: kiosks containing video cameras were
placed in areas throughout the city enabling any citizen who wished to
record a message to do so at will. Everyday, bogotanos of different
ages, backgrounds and classes can be seen in the City-cápsulas reciting
poetry, telling jokes, criticizing the government, delivering messages
to friends and loved ones, discussing problems which affect their
communities, singing popular songs, or using the medium to say publicly
whatever else occurs to them. By 2004, City TV had captured a 6% share
of the television audience. During the 90s, programming on WIPR, the
government-run public television channel in Puerto Rico, was dominated
by imported programming, much of it from the United States. In 2000, a
new general manager was appointed, and the channel changed its name to
TUTV. Since then, it has introduced a series of new local programs,
and commissioned local films. The channel's most popular new show,
Cultura viva is, as its title suggests, a live show which features
performances and interviews with artists, intellectuals, and cultural
promoters, as well as live coverage of cultural events occurring on the
island. It is broadcast every evening from Monday to Friday, providing
an important new space for the promotion of local culture. In the
program Lineas de fuga, teenagers are given video cameras and asked to
create a half-hour film documenting their own ideas and experiences.
The resulting films are broadcast on the program.

How is television in Latin America evolving? How might the impact of
changes in programming such as those mentioned above be felt socially?
What television programs or approaches to programming instituted in
recent years might be considered progressive, innovative, alternative,
subversive, or unusual, in interesting ways? How might they help us
reflect on the role television is playing in specific cultural contexts
in Latin America ?

Please e-mail abstracts, together with a short bio (no more than 3
sentences) by August 10, 2005 to:

Mary Leonard
mleonard_at_prw.net

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Received on Sun Jul 17 2005 - 16:04:37 EDT