Bogotá, Colombia – Noticias Caracol, one of many largest media shops in Colombia, launched a statement on March 20 relating to an investigation into two of its lead journalists, Ricardo Orrego and Jorge Alfredo Vargas, following allegations of sexual abuse in opposition to a few of their feminine colleagues.
The allegations despatched shockwaves via the media business, partly due to the popularity each males had constructed over their careers.
For many years, Orrego was the voice of Colombian sports activities, main protection of a number of World Cups and different worldwide sporting competitions, whereas Vargas had been the charismatic anchor of Caracol’s prime-time information present for over 20 years.
Days after asserting the investigation, the community despatched a follow-up message: each males had been faraway from their positions regardless of them denying the allegations. Quickly after, Orrego printed a statement from his lawyer on X, saying the firing was “one sided” and that he would adjust to any investigation. Vargas additionally printed a statement saying he was stepping away from Caracol whereas saying he maintained “respect” and “good habits” whereas working as a journalist.
The firings marked a pivotal second for Colombian newsrooms and impressed dozens of feminine journalists to return ahead and share their very own experiences of sexual harassment, sparking a large wave of solidarity beneath the hashtags #YoTeCreoColega (I consider you, colleague) and #MeTooColombia, whereas additionally exposing a deeply-rooted tradition of harassment and abuse.
Concern: a purpose for sharing an open secret
Earlier than social media modified the information panorama, the women and men showing on Colombian tv screens to report the information grew to become trusted icons for aspiring journalists, together with myself.
As their star-power rose, questioning them grew to become harder.
Longtime Colombian journalist Yolanda Ruiz wrote in her column for Spanish newspaper El País that the business “has prioritized the scores of its stars over the dignity of feminine journalists,” making a “throne of impunity that’s lastly starting to crumble.”
“It can’t be a shock when the ‘open secret’ lastly explodes,” she wrote.
The harassment isn’t simply contained to the tv business both. In line with a 2020 examine by the Observatorio de la Democracia at Universidad de los Andes, which surveyed 158 feminine reporters, six out of 10 contributors reported being victims of gender-based violence of their workplaces, whereas a staggering 77.9% acknowledged they have been conscious of this type of abuse in opposition to their feminine colleagues.
A number of journalists (on this case, no matter gender) have additionally claimed to be victims of office bullying, stemming not solely from bosses and energy figures but additionally from their very own colleagues.
Past the conditions of office and sexual harassment, journalists in Colombia additionally face low salaries and extreme labor instability. In line with a examine by Universidad del Rosario, which surveyed 277 journalists, almost half of the contributors (137) acknowledged they would depart the occupation for an additional subject if given the possibility.
This reveals a poisonous setting the place intimidation was normalized at each degree of the newsroom, making a cross-sectional sample of abuse that silenced these attempting to construct a profession or hold their present positions inside the business.
Identical sample, completely different workplaces
Following the Caracol journalists’ harassment allegations, Colombian journalists Paula Bolívar, Juanita Gómez, Mónica Rodríguez, Laura Palomino, and Catalina Botero started the #MeTooColombia motion.
They have been impressed by the #MeToo hashtag that arose within the U.S. in 2017 following revelations of sexual abuse by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
The group of reporters additionally established a devoted communication channel ([email protected]) for victims to share their tales of abuse inside newsrooms. The response was overwhelming: in only a week, they acquired at the least 200 emails with testimonies starting from 1993 to 2025.
Within the case of Juanita Gómez and Catalina Botero, each distinguished journalists who beforehand labored at Noticias Caracol and who at the moment serve at weekly information journal Semana and state-owned radio station RTVC respectively, the initiative began by sharing on social media their very own experiences.
By her account on X, Gómez detailed aggressions she suffered from a widely known anchor whereas on a world project in 2015.
“I might inform her that having to pressure a journalist/presenter off you, a number of occasions and with pushing, so he wouldn’t kiss you in an elevator… shouldn’t be regular and will by no means have occurred,” Gómez wrote.
“I might additionally inform her to speak to her feminine colleagues, hopefully lots of them, as a result of they’ve a lot worse tales, and absolutely collectively they might discover a approach to report the harasser.”
This inspired different girls who labored at TV channel RCN, newspaper El Espectador, and different Colombian media, to share their very own experiences.
Some questions started to floor: if this can be a systemic sample throughout the complete media business, why has just one outlet spoken out publicly? And extra importantly, why is that this reckoning taking place solely now?
The truth that Juan Roberto Vargas, the director of Noticias Caracol, has publicly addressed the state of affairs contained in the media outlet as “painful” and “unhappy” marks a big first step, one which administrators of different main media shops ought to comply with.
His dedication to taking “decisive measures” units a precedent in an business the place silence has lengthy been the usual response to inside abuse.
The top of an period: Breaking the cycle of impunity
Eight years in the past, Lina Castillo publicly accused Hollman Morris—the present director of the general public radio broadcaster RTVC—of sexual and office harassment.
The journalist’s public allegations have been turned in opposition to her, nonetheless, after Morris filed a defamation criticism, arguing her accusations have been damaging his popularity.
Pushed by the #YoTeCreoColega motion, a bunch of greater than 40 girls, together with journalists, attorneys, and writers, joined collectively to signal an open letter questioning the case in opposition to Castillo and denouncing Morris’s authorized actions. They argue that his aim is to not search justice, however “to silence the ladies who report him.”
In March, following stress from social organizations, the case was transferred to a better court docket to make sure “gender delicate evaluation.”
Moreover, Jineth Bedoya, an award-winning journalist who grew to become a logo of the struggle in opposition to gender-based violence following her kidnapping, torture, and rape by the hands of right-wing paramilitaries in 2000, not too long ago took the difficulty of harassment in newsrooms to lawmakers.
On March 25, Bedoya testified earlier than Congress, calling on lawmakers to finish the “pacts of silence” which have protected predators in newsrooms for many years.
“A gaggle of ladies journalists is right here right this moment to remind you that, for many years, girls within the media have needed to carry the burden of gender-based violence,” she acknowledged. “No extra pacts of silence in newsrooms. At present shouldn’t be the time to stay silent.”
The #MeTooColombia motion can be looking for authorized recourse for victims. The Lawyer Common’s Workplace reported over 50 complaints of sexual and office harassment inside the media business in lower than per week after the preliminary allegations involving journalists from Noticias Caracol got here to gentle.
Victims have been inspired to report abuse to a particular e mail arrange by the Prosecutor’s Workplace: [email protected].
The tip of the iceberg?
On April 7, the Ministry of Labor printed a doc detailing speedy measures imposed in opposition to Noticias Caracol. This adopted an inspection of Caracol TV and BLU Radio amenities, which might doubtlessly be prolonged to different media corporations.
“There are clear indicators of a attainable failure within the mechanisms for prevention, consideration, and investigation of office sexual harassment inside the firm,” the assertion identified.
The investigation additionally revealed that one of many accused, Ricardo Orrego, had acquired prior warnings in 2023 and 2025. Nevertheless, there aren’t any paperwork figuring out the complainants behind them or any proof of a structured disciplinary process.
Relating to the disgraced journalist, the Ministry ordered a “documentary reconstruction course of” for the warnings issued to Orrego. The aim is to “establish the unique complaints, the departments concerned, and the the explanation why no formal disciplinary procedures have been ever carried out.”
On the identical time, the inspection uncovered 15 new complaints of potential sexual harassment. These instances had remained invisible, both as a result of victims didn’t report them or as a result of the corporate merely did not deal with them via the right channels.
Whereas Caracol’s determination to go public marks a uncommon and mandatory first step, the Ministry’s ongoing oversight serves as a reminder that that is an open investigation—and a warning for the remainder of the business.
Hear from the ladies
As this report focuses on a tradition of silence inside Colombian media, Latin America Stories reached out to a number of victims of harassment immediately.
These journalists shared their tales on the situation of anonymity to guard their security {and professional} careers.
Their testimonies supply a have a look at the instances which have remained hidden for years.
Giving a voice to those experiences is important to breaking the cycle of harassment and silence, prioritizing the human expertise over the information:
The abusive touching from that older man—who claimed to be the proprietor of a famend media outlet—left me utterly paralyzed.
He approached my buddy and I once we have been simply younger girls, talking in a sickening tone. ‘Do you wish to be a part of my group? Please, don’t hesitate to contact me,’ he advised her, whereas his hand stored shifting throughout her physique and his mouth was disturbingly near hers.
“It’s best to stay silent and keep away from creating pointless drama… It’s for one of the best,” the HR chief advised me once I tried to ask for assist relating to my abusive boss. I attempted so arduous to stay calm, however the harassment grew to become my shadow.
He would name me desperately at any hour, screaming and berating me for no purpose. My cellphone grew to become a supply of terror. I ended sleeping, and once I lastly had a second of peace, my nervousness wouldn’t let me relaxation. I discovered myself waking up each couple of minutes, trembling, simply to verify my display screen, ready for the subsequent blow.
I made a decision to speak to him man-to-man as a final resort. He checked out me with a smirk and stated: ‘You need to perceive that humiliations are a part of the day by day grind right here. Solely these of us who dwell within the newsroom know tips on how to really worth them.’ Then, he softened his voice: ‘Don’t fear, you will have a superb future forward. You might be heading in the right direction.’
However his ‘mentorship’ was a lie. Simply minutes later, I overheard him mocking me to a colleague, calling me a ‘crying child’ who was unable to carry out even the best duties (regardless that I used to be doing my work and his). I made a decision to surrender. No one ever listened. Or worse, they have been spectators of the mistreatment and selected to look the opposite manner.
Being an intern arriving in a newsroom is a dream come true. You watch these main the day, seeing them on a pedestal, unaware of the ability dynamics hidden behind the cameras.
The eyes shining and the starvation to ‘attain the highest of the world’ are only a few steps away, however you’re new in an business that’s not as you think about. Humiliations, screams, and impolite remarks, all of them, are the day by day meal.
You possibly can see everybody getting nervous, however you can even really feel the envy amongst colleagues—reporters pushing others away, making enjoyable of them, or giving them derogatory nicknames to break their popularity. They’re at all times looking out for his or her failures… It’s like a highschool horror film about bullying.
Abruptly, the primary message arrives in your cellphone: “Your ass is wonderful, can I’ve a chew?” It comes from a colleague, a lot older than you, who has been main the highest tales for years and has falsely provided to share his skilled secrets and techniques with you.
You’re no one. You’ve gotten simply arrived at your first job—what can you actually do? Report it to the director? He doesn’t even know who you might be but; you haven’t even had the possibility to indicate what you’re able to. It’s higher to say nothing, even when every time the messages worsen and you’re feeling increasingly repulsed.
It’s a part of ‘constructing character,’ was at all times heard.
Featured picture: Ricardo Orrego and Jorge Alfredo Vargas
Picture credit score: David Gonzalez for Latin America Stories
