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JUANITA LEON
Colombia’s Journalism Reformer
Juanita is creating a new model for journalism in Colombia. La Silla Vacia (“The Empty Seat”) is a nonpartisan space
for public debate and critical thinking, an alternative to the nation’s media oligopoly. The interactive website combines
investigative political reporting and analysis with a diverse range of discussion and blogging from emerging political
leaders, economists, academics, and human rights activists. Just as important, it is fostering a vibrant online community
committed to engaging in public affairs.

THE PROBLEM: Shallow News Stories, Oligopolies, and

Extreme Views
Having worked in the television, magazine, and the newspaper worlds in both Colombia and the
United States, Juanita sees the Internet provided a unique opportunity to create a new journalism
model promoting integrity and discourse.

Colombian media faces four major problems. First, the industry is controlled by an oligopoly of
four conglomerates with ties to the country’s political and economic elite. This structure to a
second problem: —the lack of independent journalism. Mainstream news publications provide
little in-depth research and analysis, dwelling instead in biased and sensationalized reporting. This
sort of journalism, Juanita found, tends to polarize public debate, causing broad apathy among the
centrist public majority. That apathy leads to a final problem, an absence of interest in deeper
analysis of the news, and greater, more peripheral interest in the more sensational issues. Overall,
the Colombian mass media seems focused on current stories that cater to interests of those with
influence.

THE NEW IDEA: Balanced News Website Fostering Civic

Participation
Juanita has created an Internet-based platform that produces and encourages professional
political analysis, high-level discourse, expert blogging, and quality citizen journalism. Her aim is to
tell the stories behind the news by connecting fact-based reporting with in-depth analyses, and to
provide a more balanced view. This new website, La Silla Vacia, has allowed for civic engagement
for all individuals.
 THE STRATEGY: Providing a Platform to Foster Discourse
Juanita aimed to provide an interactive website gathering diverse opinions and encouraging
participation. She designed five different sections of the site, each for different source of
information. Desde la Silla features research, investigation and analysis from professional
journalists; Movia del Dia brings conversations with important power brokers and opinion
makers; Bloggeo is a platform for posts by prestigious young economists, security experts etc.; La
Butaca features relevant work from a network of artists; and Mi Puesto represents the views and
reporting from everyday citizens.

Juanita founded La Silla Vacilla with her own money and a grant from the Open Society Institute
– but, it is now funded through Blogosfera Producciones S.A.S, the business arm of her
organization. Half of expenses are covered by advertising funds while the rest is covered by
sponsorships from banks, airlines, etc.—a coup for an independent media outlet in Colombia.

THE PERSON: Integrating Journalism with Entrepreneurship

Juanita is the daughter of business entrepreneurs and immigrants, who emigrated to Colombia
during World War II. While studying Law at Andes University in Bogota, she created an “alter-Ego”
magazine dedicated to presenting law-related topics from a layperson’s point of view. She
continued her entrepreneurial activities by founding Opcion Colombia, which served as bridge
between city hall offices and the university. At the same time, she gathered stories that were used
to produce the TV series “Tiempos Dificiles.” Juanita continued her education in journalism at
Columbia University, working for Wall Street Journal. While there, she decided to travel on her
own initiative to cover the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in South Africa
followed by a variety of jobs in the Colombian Journalism industry. While a Nieman Fellow at
Harvard University, Juanita began working on La Silla Vaccia, and launched it soon after.

THE FUTURE: Becoming a Leader in News

In the first six months, La Silla Vaccia has had 121,000 distinct visitors, 419,531 pageviews. Juanita
hopes to build on this success by engaging more future leaders and opinion makers. She expects
these compelling individuals to produce 30% of La Silla Vacilla’s content. At the same time, she
wants to build Mi Puesto to 10,000 users from 1,225, contributing to a total of more than 100,000
visitors and 300,000 pageviews per month. Finally, she plans to launch a campus network to
introduce the website to universities and students.

Learn more: Watch Juanita discuss herwork, motivation, and future plans in her own words; and read
her full profile.

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