The World of Blogs in Chile

The media in Chile is an interesting combination of a conservative newspaper duopoly - El Mercurio and La Tercera receive are, respectively, the Chilean newspapers with the biggest circulation. Catholic owned TV channels actively engage in censorship. There are many Chilean blogs in Spanish, but the vast majority of Chileans still get their news from traditional sources, which are biased and oftentimes of poor quality.

There is only one major newspapers providing comprehensive English-language news about Chile. That is The Santiago Times. Yet the English language blogosphere in Chile is also emerging as a strong competitor. That's because the Santiago Times, while well done, preserves much of the static rigidity of a traditional newspaper that expat blogs in Chile inherently eschew. While blogs provide news analysis from an intensely personal perspective, The Santiago Times does very little original reporting, oftentimes opting to source from major Chilean newspapers such as El Mercurio and La Tercera. Yes, the Santiago Times provides interesting analysis, and that is commendable. But blogs in Chile provide a much more awake, alive and interesting perspective on what life is like in Chile.

Therefore, one well-known blogger has launched a list of Chile blogs. This Chile Blogger's intention is not just to list blogs in Chile, but provide helpful, in depth Chile blog reviews. Users of the list are also encouraged to write their own reviews, in order to create an even larger consensus about the relative merits of each of the blogs from Chile.

Skype In Chile: SkypeIn

Recently we posted about keeping in touch with phone cards and Skype while in Chile. Since then, there's news about Skype partnering up with a local Chilean company.

This means it will be possible for Chileans to contract telephony services backed up with Skype technology. As one blogger points out, this further cements the telecommunications freedom recently granted by Chilean non-competition courts.

For expats living in Chile and people traveling in Chile who want to stay in touch with friends and family, you can get your own Skype number and make cheap calls by downloading the service. You still don't need to go through RedVoiss, although it is probably good news for many Chileans and Chilean companies.

Claro Goes to Court

One of Chile's up-and-coming cell phone companies is getting slammed for reporting customers who don't pay their bills to Chilean consumer debt reporting agency Dicom. In Chile, it's illegal to do that. Read the story.