Colombia Reports celebrates its very first birthday this week. We're working too hard so there is no time for cake, but let's at least take a look at how the past year went. What happened so far and what is going to happen in the near future?
Colombia Reports, also known as simply 'CR', was founded by Dutch trouble-maker and media developer Adriaan Alsema. This European left his (relatively) steady job in the Netherlands to start a whole new adventure in Medellín, Colombia. His idea was to set up a new medium that would offer fair and neutral reports on what exactly is going on in this country.
So, that's exactly what he did. He started off with a few volunteers, who just as passionately helped to expand the site as much as they could. Once people started noticing the site, more contributors offered their services and now, we have a complete team of specialists working on each section of the site. (Obviously new contributors are always welcome, just send an e-mail if interested).
Those specialists are mostly located in Colombia, in cities such as Bogotá, Medellín and Barranquilla. Some are American, English, Dutch and Colombian. We even have two Canadians on board.
When Adriaan founded this site, he never expected it to grow as fast as it did. We received many positive comments on the project and some hate mail. Many people feel a connection with Colombia and want to know all the latest news, but their Spanish is limited. So, here we are to solve the problem. Besides, we don't just offer news but also the best in travel information, columns, events and nightlife. Starting today, our birthday, we even offer a completely new classifieds section, free of charge.
Colombia Reports aims to be a neutral medium. This is extremely important to us. Our goal is to report things as they are, without looking at it from a particular angle. We have a firm belief in freedom of press, and in the last year we have built contacts with several Colombian journalists who believe the same. Press liberty is of extreme importance in any country, but especially in a country like Colombia where complicated armed conflicts continue to dominate headlines. We want to make sure that we don't tell you what is good and what is bad, since we believe that our readers know how to make that judgment themselves.
Working at Colombia Reports isn't all serious though. Adriaan has established a particular 'coolness' test which people need to pass before they will be even considered for a job at our site. The only person who has never passed this test is Adriaan himself, since he created it. But, we'll just give him the benefit of the doubt...
In the coming year, we will continue to work hard in order to offer you the most up-to-date news, whether it is about the armed conflict, economy, entertainment, travel or sports, we will always be your primary English source for Colombian news.
Rick K R
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... This is one of my favorite sites, I check regularly when I can. I remember using this site for a school project, and before I went to Manizales, I saw an article about the Virgin Mary, and the first thing I did in Manizales is to visit that lady to see the Virgin Mary. I m Canadian but my family is Colombian, and my spanish is not so great, so I was extremely happy when I found this site. Now I can talk politics or anything about Colombia with my mom or cousins, which I did while I was there. Also, because of this site, I went to Medellin to visit the Lights, great site!!! Thats all I got to say. |
Matthew Thompson
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... This is an excellent site for people trying to keep track of what is going on in the maze of Colombia. Thank you to everyone who contributes. |
Elizabeth Berry
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... Happy Birthday, Colombia Reports! Keep up the good work. I read you every day and most every day my own blog contains a link to one of your excellent reports. I we lived closer, I would drop off a Birthday cake for you. Thank you for all that you do with your news--not only for the people of Colombia, but for all people of the world. Liz |
hmfruergaard
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... I have just recently registered on CR and when I for first time (1 week ago) saw the site on the web I straight away found what I needed, being a Swedish none Spanish speaking resident of Cartagena. This is for me the best way to learn the past and future activities within Colombia and also help me to better understand the culture of the friendly people living in the country. |
