The Voice of Guanacaste: A Costa Rican example of media resilience

Abstract

Many of the media operating out of San José, the capital of Costa Rica, are struggling to survive. This situation is compounded by the situation caused by COVID-19, increasing their problems to continue operations. The pandemic demonstrated the importance of regional media for strategic communication, however, these media did not receive additional support to continue operating, hence some of the main threats they faced during 2020 relate to difficulties in producing content, economic instability, staff layoffs and media closures. However, because Costa Rica is a country known for respecting press freedom, this problem is rarely discussed and studied. In 2020, some media outlets were able to adapt to the changes and overcome the difficulties posed by the pandemic. This research considers the case of La Voz de Guanacaste as an example of media resilience. This media outlet operates in Guanacaste, located in the northeastern region of the country, bordering Nicaragua. On 20 April 2020, it announced that it would stop printing the newspaper due to economic problems caused by the pandemic and asked its audience for donations to maintain its operations. The strategy they adopted allowed them to continue publishing on their digital platforms. In this case study, publications made between April and July 2020 related to the economic sustainability of the media outlet are considered. The analysis of the information focuses on identifying the measures adopted and communicated through Instagram that were aimed at the renewal and transformation of the medium. The results obtained contribute to the recognition and understanding of the measures adopted by local media to continue operations in the midst of crisis situations.