WORLD PRESS TRENDS - World Association of Newspapers

COSTA RICA
Commentary – Grupo Nación
2002 was a year of great changes in politics. Since the
Constitution went into effect in 1949, it was the first time a
second-round election was needed. In the presidential elections
of February, none of the candidates reached the 40% of the
popular votes needed to win, so a second election was held in
April, in which the governing party’s candidate was elected.
On the other hand, the two most traditional parties lost several
seats in the Legislative Assembly to recently formed parties.
Finally, in December the mayors of the 81 cantons were elected
directly for the first time by the voters, instead of by the
municipal council.
The Costa Rican economy started the year 2002 with gloomy
prospects. The economy of our main partners grew only
moderately, so the demand for our exports was low and external
inflow of capital decreased. Coffee prices and demand continued
POPULATION
to drop, and tourism did not fully recover from the slump caused
by the terrorist attacks of September 2001.
Inflation in 2002 was 9.7%, just a bit lower than the expected
10% and the first one-digit figure in many years. The fiscal deficit
was higher than a year before and reached 4.7% of GDP. A law
passed in late December created new temporary taxes, but a
full-scale tax reform bill still waits in Congress.
Following the path of the media market all around the globe,
Costa Rican newspapers are losing advertising market share to
TV, POP and even radio. Newspapers’ portion dropped from
38% to 33% in just one year.
A bill proposed by editors of media, intended to make libel a
civil offence instead of a criminal one, has not been passed yet.
Population by age and sex (2001)
All individuals Male Female Households
000 % 000 % 000 % 000
Children 1,295 34 662 35 633 33 1,035
16-24 657 17 331 17 326 17
25-34 593 16 293 15 300 16
35-44 530 14 260 14 270 14
45-54 330 9 162 9 168 9
55-64 193 5 95 5 98 5
65+ 214 6 101 5 113 6
Total 3,812 100 1,904 100 1,908 100
Source: INEC, Urban & Associates
Households
Households
Occupancy 000 %
1-3 people 427 41
4 people 247 24
5 or more people 361 35
1,035
without children 331 32
with children 704 68
with children aged 0-3 211 20
with children aged 4-9 225 22
with children aged 10-15 282 27
Total 1,035 100
Source: INEC, Urban & Associates
Age structure of readership (2000)
% of % weekly reach
Age readership within age group
18-24 20.6 90.6
25-34 26.6 92.7
35-44 23.2 92.3
45-54 13.8 86.5
55+ 15.7 85.9
Source: Urban & Associates (2000)
Note: covers Central Region only (53% of
population), and does not include the lowest
social level
Newspaper reach (%)
Weekly
All adults 73.5
Men 76.3
Women 70.9
Source: Optimum Media Direction
(OMD), Estudios de hábitos de
audiencia, 2001
Note: covers Central Region only
(53% of population), and does not
include the lowest social level
Population by social class (2001)
All adults
Households
000 % 000 %
A + B 393 16 166 16
C1 420 17 207 20
C2 + D + E 1,702 68 662 64
Total 2,515 100 1,035 100
Source: INEC, Urban & Associates
A= higher managerial, administrative, professional
B= intermediate managerial, administrative, professional
C1= supervisory/clerical/junior managerial
C2= skilled manual workers
D= semi and unskilled manual workers
E= subsistence/inactive
WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS - WORLD PRESS TRENDS 2003 89