Culture of Honduras - The Press, Television and Radio

The Press, Television and Radio

The first printing press was brought to Honduras by General Francisco Morazán from Guatemala. He used it to begin publication in 1830 of The Gazette of the government. Bulletins and informative weekly papers soon followed.

In 1831, the newspaper known as The Beam was born, which had a short duration. At the end of 19th century, The Chronicle commenced publication; next came The Newspaper of Honduras and The People (an official newspaper of the Honduran Liberal Party, which later ceased publication).

Honduras has a good number of newspapers and magazines, through which the Honduran people stay well informed. Of these the oldest is "La Prensa", founded on October 26, 1964 in San Pedro Sula. El Tiempo has been in publication since 1970. In the capital city of Tegucigalpa, The Tribune and later The Herald appeared in the mid 1970s.

With the Internet came hondudiarioh.com, Proceso Digital and the English weekly paper Honduras This Week. Recently sports magazines such as AS and Diez have appeared, with an emphasis on soccer.

Television arrived in Honduras in 1959 with the arrival of channel 5. Today there are five channels produced in Honduras.

Except for the news and sports programs, for many years these channels transmitted programs produced in Mexico and Venezuela. As a result of this, many Honduran were influenced by the cultures of these countries, adopting their sayings and behavior. With the arrival of the cable system, Hondurans have the opportunity to watch programs from Spain, Argentina, and the United States. The cultural impact of these programs remains to be seen.

Radio also has contributed to the cultural development of Honduras. Major players include Radio America and HRN, a member of the National System of Broadcasting Stations.