Journalism in the Amazon faces challenges in terms of accessibility, funding, infrastructure, and cultural diversity. The Amazon region is vast, difficult to access, with problems of energy supply and connectivity, making it difficult for journalists to report from there. It is also home to a wide variety of languages and local perspectives, which presents a challenge when communicating and reflecting the needs of the communities.

The city of Santarém, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, is home to the civil society organization Saúde e Alegria (PSA for its acronym in Portuguese), an initiative that promotes participatory community development in the region. Digital inclusion, a cross-cutting theme of their work, refers to the equitable distribution and use of technology and digital resources to improve the quality of life and achieve greater citizen participation.

As part of the Red Floresta em Pé project, Colmena traveled to Santarém and participated in a four-day workshop with PSA to exchange ideas and explore the use of this software in the region. As the PSA mentions, the community in this city has already developed innovative communication formats, such as a radio magazine, with recorded and edited audio messages. Colmena, as an editorial room, is ideal for promoting the creation of this type of formats and generating content production in a safe environment.

“Colmena can become a very powerful tool for Amazonian communities to improve their participation in communication and their need to be informed,”

said Nils Brock, director of Colmena, during the workshop.

Red Floresta em Pé, a project of DW Akademie and PSA, includes free hardware and software components such as Colmena. Bringing this plan to the Brazilian Amazon region also involves thinking about the challenges of energy supply and connectivity. A digital system that includes solar panels, equipment and environmental sustainability must be incorporated from the start. This workshop and exploratory visit will culminate with the preparation of a proposal for the implementation of this project in the region.

“After this exploratory visit we hope to continue developing an action plan and contribute together with Colmena to the current scenario in Brazil,”

Brock added.

Saúde e Alegria has a track record of more than thirty years working in the Brazilian Amazon region. Through its experience in the field, and with the future participation of more organizations and partners, it will identify the Brazilian territories in which Red Floresta em Pé could expand this year.

Learn more about the Brazilian organization here (information in Portuguese).