The radio and television of the Salvadoran parliament are the means of disseminating information about parliament’s legislative activity. The content aired by these broadcasters consists mainly of parliamentary debates and legislative activity.
Media assets
Television: Televisión Legislativa Salvadoreña
Radio: Radio Legislativa
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
The legislative media are under the control of Parliament. They do not have real editorial independence although they are to some extent outside the government’s sphere of influence as President Bukele doesn’t have a majority in Parliament at the moment. Yet, the legislative media are state media as they are controlled by a state authority (parliament). They are run by the Communications Directorate, which is run by the Board of Directors of the Salvadoran parliament.
Source of funding and budget
The parliament radio and television are reliant on public funds provided by the Parliament of El Salvador.
Editorial independence
The legislative media in El Salvador are controlled by the lawmaking authority when it comes to editorial coverage.
Legislative radio and television have a so-called Protocol for the operation of the legislative assembly’s media that provides for a pluralistic and “proportional” Editorial Committee whose task is to define the programming of the two stations. However, that is not a statute that establishes the broadcasters’ editorial independence.
The El Salvador Journalists Association (APES) has a code of ethics that is supposed to apply to all the media in the country. However, the legislative media have no independent mechanism of assessment or oversight that would validate their editorial independence.
August 2023