Who we are

Contracorriente is a digital media outlet that strives for in-depth and investigative journalism in transmedia formats. Legally, we are a Society of Limited Responsibility; Producciones Red Comunica, Investiga y Conecta S. de R.L. whose founders are; Jennifer Alejandra Avila Reyes, Catherine Aurora Calderón Mercado and Héctor Alejandro Maradiaga Cibrian. Currently, the company belongs to Jennifer Alejandra Avila Reyes and Catherine Aurora Calderón Mercado.

The idea for Contracorriente came out of the explosion of the outraged movement in Honduras in 2015. This global movement, which blossomed from social media, also had an impact in the streets of this small Central American country after the looting of the Honduran Social Security Institute by public workers with links to the National party. They directly rerouted funds from public health to the political campaign of then presdent, Juan Orlando Hernández, who illegally tried to get re-elected.

It was at this time that various journalists started to come together in order to talk about the importance of reporting what happens in Honduras and of using new technologies to do so in an innovative and different way to the sort of journalism that the majority of the population was consuming. 

A dream started to grow and was consolidated with the support of other regional networks that were having similar conversations about the need for inspiring digital journalism in Honduras. Jennifer Avila, Honduran journalist and documentary maker, and Catherine Calderón, freelance journalist and consultant put out the call and got together in order to start to talk. From there, we started to write articles in our spare time, with our own money. The first step was to exist and consolidate ourselves as a team. The steps that followed were more complicated.

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We want to be media that covers Honduras’ story in a way that is fair to the people and that makes those who use their power to plunder the state and sell the country at the price of the people’s dignity, uncomfortable. We are in a country where the truth is denied and justice is a utopia. We believe that citizens should have access to accurate and current information in order to be able to make decisiones. We think that in Honduras, we need to be aware, not just survive.

visión

To consolidate ourselves as a leading media outlet in the region, based on the depth of information we provide and our capacity to analyse issues with context. We imagine a Honduras where there are active citizens who are involved in the political and social processes that affect their daily lives, and we hope to become their informative allies so they can do that.

Misión

We are a communication platform that believes in in-depth journalism, and producing transmedia content that speaks to the reality of life in Honduras and the region. Innovation and new narratives that are devoted to the truth, are the pillars of how we describe what is happening.

Nuestras Estrategias son:

Describing the causes and consequences of social issues in Honduras and the region, and creating a new generation of journalists to tell Honduras’ story.

And because all this requires resources, we are constantly designing a business model that allows us to be independent and to survive as we work.

Cómo:

We request funds from international organizations and institutions, and through scholarships and projects. We also obtain financial resources by selling communication services; consultations regarding media work, designing campaigns, audiovisual production, fixer services, and English-Spanish translations for various media formats and training workshops on journalism and communication.

Contracorriente operates with a copyleft license or Peer Production, where only non-profit people, cooperatives, or entities can share or re-use the work, but it can’t be used for profit by commercial entities whose aim is to obtain economic benefits from using it, but without any explicitly reciprocity for the common good.

One of the biggest worries we have about doing the type of journalism that we want to in this country, is the risk we face as we traverse the streets of Honduras, where the majority of murders of journalists have not been punished and where institutions are weak and unable to protect the victims – something we definitely don’t want to become.

We want our audience to be able to support the journalism we do, and to accompany us as we swim against the current.

FINANCING PARTNERSHIPS

Strategic Alliances

Contra Corriente Team

JENNIFER ÁVILA

Contra Corriente director

Journalist, co-founder, and editorial director of Contra Corriente. Winner of the LASA Media Award 2020.
CC articles and content

CATHERINE CALDERÓN

Reporter and publicist

Co-founder of Contra Corriente and head of development. She covers topics such as gender, LGBTQI rights, violence, and youth. METIS fellow 2019.
CC articles and content

ABIGAIL MOLINA

General Manager

A young feminist with eight years of administrative experience. She also has freelance experience working with women’s rights organizations in Honduras, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

 

Alejandra Arita

Chief Human Resources

Psychologist with a masters in human resources. Experience in human resource processes and management for companies, and in charge of human resources for Producciones Red Comunica.

¬ CC articles and content
» rrhh@contracorriente.red

JORGE CABRERA

Photographer editor 

Photojournalist with 20 years of experience covering international news. “Photo-journalism has been present in my life for the past two decades, and it will continue to be part of every day.”

FERNANDO SILVA

Journalist

An investigative journalist withContracorriente. Writing about corruption, power structures, and extractivism. Took the investigative journalism course for Latin America from Columbia University and was part of the team that won the Ortega y Gasset prize in 2020 for Best Investigative Reporting.

He used to work as an audiovisual producer in non-profits organizations focused on development and human rights.

VIENNA HERRERA

Journalist

An investigative journalist in Contracorriente. Right now covering stories about women’s rights, extractivism, environment, and power structures. Part of the Tierra de Resistentes team, finalist for the Gabo prize in 2020.

JORGE PAZ REYES

English content editor

 Thinker, Honduran and New Yorker. Jorge is a student of Political Science and Latin America at Haverford College of Pennsylvania. Within his studies he focuses on the Honduran labor movement, the Banana Strike of ’54 and militarism throughout Latin America. He is dedicated to representing the Central American Diaspora in the United States and fighting for the voice of the Latino community.

Allan Bu

Periodista

Local journalist in northern Honduras. Reporter of politics, health and economy.

¬ CC articles and content
allanbu@contracorriente.red

 

FERNANDO DESTEPHEN

Photographer - weekly news

Fernando Destephen was born in 1985 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He is a photojournalist and story teller.

¬ CC articles and content
» fotografo1@contracorriente.red

CELESTE MARADIAGA

Journalist

Journalist and creator of content for social networks. She covers current affairs on gender and sexual and reproductive rights, extractivism, environment and power structures in Contracorriente.

¬ CC articles and content
» contenido@contracorriente.red

DANIEL FONSECA

Community Manager

Journalist and digital content and audiovisual content creator. He believes in the transformative power of stories.

¬ CC articles and content
» redes@contracorriente.red

PERSY CABRERA

Content producer

Persy Cabrera was born in Tegucigalpa in 1997. He graduated with a technical bachelor’s degree in electricity from the Saúl Zelaya Jiménez Technical Institute and studied electrical engineering at the UNAH before going on to study journalism. He is currently a cultural journalist at Contracorriente. He likes movies, series, anime, manga and books. He plays soccer and is a sports enthusiast in general.

¬ CC articles and content
» arteycultura@contracorriente.red

CELIA POUSSET

Periodista

Journalist recently graduated from Sciences Po Rennes School of Journalism (France), I have worked on issues of gender, justice and inequality in Guatemala and El Salvador, I have ventured into the radio documentary in France on migration.

¬ CC articles and content
» celia@contracorriente.red

AWARDS AND HONORIFIC MENTIONS

AWARDS

THE 2021 NED DEMOCRACY AWARD

Our outlet was one of the four organizations in Central America that was recognized for its effort to promote democracy, human rights, accountability, and transparency in the region.

LASA MEDIA AWARD 2020

This prize is awarded every year in recognition of long term journalistic contributions to analysis and public debate about Latin America and the United States, and for vanguard journalism.

ORTEGA Y GASSET 2020

The investigation called Transnationals of faith, a project coordinated by María Teresa Ronderos, of the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) and Giannina Segnini of Columbia Journalism Investigations, was a winnder in the Best Story or Journalistic Investigation category. Contracorriente participated in the work as an associated outlet working on the investigation in Honduras.
HONORIFIC MENTIONS

JOURNALISTIC EXCELLENCE 2020

Our feature, Land of Resisters, received an honorable mention in the SIP prizzes for journalistic excellence in 2020. Contracorriente was an associated outlet in the Honduras part of the investigation.

MARÍA MOORS CABOT PRIZE 2021

Special mention in the María Moors Cabot Prize 2021 for an “invaluable and intrepid report about a moment of serious crisis for Honduras.