Diario El Salvador was launched in October 2020 as a state-run daily newspaper.
Media assets
Publishing: Diaro El Salvador
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
Operated and overseen by the publishing house El Diario Nacional (EDN), Diario El Salvador maintains a tight-knit affiliation with the President’s Press Office. The government is notably transparent about its ties to the newspaper. On October 7, 2020, President Nayib Bukele took to Twitter to unveil the launch of Diario El Salvador, describing it as a state-owned enterprise.
As per the most recent figures, Diario El Salvador boasts a circulation of 10,000 copies and maintains a workforce of 70 individuals.
Source of funding and budget
Diario El Salvador sustains its operations through a combination of copy sales and government funding, encompassing both subsidies and advertising revenue. With a price tag of $0.25 per copy, the publication is touted as a state-owned entity. However, its lack of financial transparency complicates efforts to audit its operations. Its ownership structure is obscured by a network of “subsidiaries”—state-owned companies within the energy sector—a setup that seemingly skirts public scrutiny, as revealed by an inquiry conducted by Factum Magazine.
According to Factum’s analysis—which analyzed the volume of state ads—Diario El Salvador appears to rely predominantly on government funding. An investigative report uncovered that between 2020 and 2023, the newspaper secured contracts totaling US$ 1.98m from 98 government entities, primarily for advertisements and subscriptions. During this same period, the publication further augmented its finances with over US$ 5.4m in loans obtained from state-owned companies.
Editorial independence
The editorial stance of Diario El Salvador is notably aligned with President Bukele’s administration. The publication articulates its mission as follows: “Diario El Salvador emerges as a serious, complex and novel information offer where we will give voice to those who have been excluded from the narrative of the rest of the media (…) the newspaper will not live off the street sales, which are entirely intended for vendors and distributors.”
A content analysis undertaken for this report in April 2023, and later in May 2024, analyzed articles published on its online platform. Findings revealed an editorial bias marked by overwhelming commendation of President Bukele, alongside persistent critique of his adversaries. Intriguingly, not a shred of dissent or critical reflection regarding Bukele or his government appears across the site’s materials.
An earlier investigation by Factum, similarly characterized the publication as a propaganda arm for Bukele. Factum’s study, assessing nearly 3,000 articles published between October 2020 and November 2021, pointed toward an entrenched pattern of partisanship.
Further analyses suggest that Diario El Salvador maintains exceedingly close ties to Nuevas Ideas, President Bukele’s political party.
Notably, no domestic legislation has been uncovered guaranteeing the editorial independence of Diario El Salvador.Although the El Salvador Journalists Association (APES) has a code of ethics intended to apply universally across media outlets in the country, Diario El Salvador lacks external mechanisms to ensure or evaluate its editorial neutrality. Consequently, its independence remains vulnerable to scrutiny.
April 2025