Latin American online journalism : an exploratory Web-based survey for identifying international trends in print-affiliated sites

A descriptive analysis of the data from 74 editors and reporters from 62 print-affiliated newspapers sites in Latin America indicate that journalists and print-based sites follow similar broad tendencies observed in different studies inside and outside of the region. The surveyed online editors and reporters -mainly young men with university studies- have a career background in print newspapers, with salaries equals or lower than their print colleagues. They perform weekly activities more related with immediacy than multimedia, and they perceive their primary function as disseminators and interpreters of information. Working in small and integrated newsrooms, online journalists basically interact with their print partner in terms of editing content. Although, advertising is a primary source of revenue, the majority of national, regional and local print-based sites confirm that they depend on the print partner for content and financing their online operations. Furthermore, the online version of papers do not fully take advantage of the Internet technology and capabilities, particularly multimediality and interactivity, or provide too much original new media content.