Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

Dominican Republic: Government and Politics
Mass Media
Starting in the early 1960s, the Dominican Republic experienced
a communications revolution. The spread of radio, television,
and newspapers awakened the previously isolated
countryside, stimulated rapid urbanization, and led to the
political mobilization of millions of persons who had never participated
in politics before. In addition, since Trujillo's death in
1961, the Dominican media have been among the freest in
Latin America.
In the 1990s, Dominicans have access to a multiplicity of
radio and television stations domestically, including several
that are state-owned and managed; many Dominicans also have
access to major United States, Spanish, and Latin American
networks through various satellite cable companies. All radio
and television stations are government-licensed, a situation
that has sometimes led to charges of undue pressure and
manipulation. Furthermore, at election time, the state-owned
media have usually been blatantly partisan in favor of the
incumbent administration's candidates. As ownership of television
units has grown, television has become the major medium
through which the public receives its news. Those who cannot
afford a set of their own often watch at neighbors' houses or in
public places such as bars or shops.
The country's major newspaper is the Listin Diario, founded
in 1889 and revived in 1964. Santo Domingo boasts a number
of other significant dailies as well, including Hoy, El Siglo, El Caribe,
El National, and Ultima Hora. These newspapers circulate
nationally, although other cities also have smaller papers. Ownership
of newspapers tends to be concentrated in family-held
conglomerates, which sometimes use their control of the press
to advance the interests of their firms or to attack those of their
rivals. Journalists are not always well paid and sometimes accept
additional remuneration from government offices, political
parties, or firms. Not surprisingly, objectivity in reporting sometimes
suffers. At the same time, investigative reporting of
alleged corruption, abuse, and negligence by government and
by private-sector firms, previously almost unknown, has gained
impetus over the past decade in these daily newspapers and
also in the weekly newsmagazine, Rumbo.
Roman Catholic Church
The Dominican Republic remains about 80 percent Roman
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