January 27, 2005
By Trinidad Vásquez

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Four television stations and several radio stations, such as Radio Ya, are embroiled in a dispute to hike their ratings and each day offer their audiences a breakfast of news stories that reflect violence, said Pastor Felix Ruiz, of the Baptist Convention of Nicaragua.

Pastor William Gonzalez, president of the Nicaraguan Evangelical Martin Luther King University notes that violence has its roots in the loss of moral, spiritual and ethical values but that current television programs do nothing to control it but rather seek to increase it.

Marcelino Basset, of the Evangelical Faculty of Theological Studies (FEET) added that he rejects these programs that disseminate this type of news because they contribute nothing to the nation's stability.

The Ministry of Education, authorities and parents should take measures to offset this wave of violence in the media that is traumatizing a society that wants tranquility, said Basset.

For his part, Apostolic Church pastor and psychologist Eduardo Izaguirre said that the population is suffering from a syndrome of intra-family violence and no-one can predict what will happen in the future if violence continues to be promoted. He also called on Evangelical Churches to raise their voices in the face of such a dangerous theme.

Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, at the end of his Sunday sermon in the Managua Cathedral said that this competition among radio and television to transmit blood and violence, harms the people of Nicaragua, in particular children and young people.

This concern about the promotion of violence in the media also worries Vidaluz Meneses, leader of the Civil Coordinating Committee, who said that this competition for blood means that the population is paying the consequences of the free information market.

Marta Cabrera, Director of the Antonio Valdivieso Center said that this type of news is promoted in countries where their basic problems are resolved, where they are isolated incidents. However, in Nicaragua, we must make everything good visible as there is a clear and enormous imbalance regarding the image of good and bad.

Evenor Jerez, sub director of the Evangelical Pro Denominational Alliance Council of Churches (CEPAD) said that this type of news twists the mentality of children and young people and leads to negative behavior.

Pastor Walt Morgan, dean of the Baptist Theological seminal, said that the transmission of bloody acts on television channels provokes insecurity among the population.

Latin American and Caribbean News Agency