A new wave of communication.

• Author: Sanchez, Elena
• Position: Organization of American States' Radio and Television unit

In these fast-paced times, information has acquired a crucial importance in many aspects of our daily lives. Recent technological advances and the development of electronic media have now allowed the countries of the Americas to share their rich cultural heritages through radio waves and television images. And now, thanks to the expanded planning and mission that the Organization of American States has given to its Radio and Television Unit, the peoples of the Hemisphere have been brought closer together - to a point of encounter that can shape their future.

The need to establish a communications strategy that would bring the world's oldest regional organization closer to the peoples it represents became a reality with the formation of a new group of communications specialists made up by OAS veterans and recently incorporated professionals, who have not only managed to improve the OAS's image but also to promote a new one.

The inspiration behind this change is Argentine journalist Jorge Telerman, who has headed the Department of Public Information since 1994, carrying out a "rational reorganization of all its aspects." The engine behind communications at the OAS is Jorge Dorio, assistant to Telerman and press, radio, and television coordinator. In his capacity as the director's right-hand man, Dorio is turning the ideas behind this new communications strategy into reality.

"We found ourselves with a contrived communications apparatus, with a very hard institutional message, more in tune with institutional rules than with reaching out to people," says Dorio. "The only truth is the diversity and extension of the message, and that has been our motto throughout the introduction of these important aesthetic and content changes."

The innovative ideas of these two communications professionals depend on Mario Martinez y Palacios, whose nuance-filled voice carries out the delicate and difficult job of being "the voice" of the OAS.

According to Martinez, an announcer from Ecuador, it is estimated that "La Voz de la OEA," whose programs are transmitted daily via satellite in Spanish, has ten million listeners throughout the Hemisphere. With an extensive and varied thirty-minute program that disseminates information about the Organization's activities, the broadcast also includes segments on politics, economics, society, and culture. "Noticiero Interamericano" features the contributions of broadcasters affiliated to the Cadena Radial Interamericana and...