Tuesday, September 20, 2005

El Alto workshop

Strange as it may sound, a university in a city known for its radical anti-Americanism and mass protests and riots that drove two presidents from power in two years invited me, El Gringo Grande, to speak about how to improve local journalism. What makes it even more of a shock is that the U.S. Embassy was a co-host of the event.
The 60-so attendees couldn't live in the same country as my wealthy white students at La UPSA. Most speak Ayamara at home, not Spanish. Most have to walk several city blocks to get clean water. Most support the leftist Cocalero, Castro-Chavez friend Evo Morales for president.
But they were a polite and engaged audience. I think I had them when I bashed Bush's slow response to Hurricane Katrina. And when I opened with the line, "So I hear they don't like Gringos much up here."
The theme of my talk was that it's normal to have opinions, but that as a reporter you have to leave them at home. A simple concept, but many of the participants of the seminar run some of the 300 neighborhood radio stations that rally the masses to close off the highways and shut down La Paz when they want to "negotiate" with the government.
I got asked some interesting questions -- How would I cover Cuban immigration to the states? Can I print whatever I want in the U.S.? Have I ever been threatened?
Afterwards, I visited the newsroom of El Alto`s only newspaper, the three-year-old El AlteƱo. It has a staff of five reporters and a circulation of some 2,500, the director said.
Surprising since El Alto is a city of about 1 million and growing. Made up of Quechua and Ayamara migrants from other parts of the country, the city sits in the hills about 1,000 feet above the capital city, La Paz, which is at 14,000. To get there, the white Chevy Suburban provided by the embassy (not too obvious) climbed winding roads as steep as any in San Francisco. There is an amazing view of La Paz from up there, a splash of red roofs that climb up onto the hillside. The white-capped Mt. Illumani is the backdrop.

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