Research Guides: International News: Chile

Researcher

Benjamin Billings

General Country Overview

Chile declared its independence on February 12, 1818, from Spain. The capital is Santiago, and the official language is Spanish. With a population of around 19 million, the currency is the Chilean peso (CLP). Situated in South America, Chile is known for its long coastline and diverse geography

News Sources

EMOL
A news source in Chile that publishes in English but is owned by El Mercurio, one of the major news sources in Chile. They provide news tabs on Economy, Sports, Shows, ect. They also allow viewers to leave comments on articles at the bottom. Possibly the only news source to provide current news on Chile in English.
Mecro Press
An international news source in Uruguay that specializes in providing news from South America. They have a separate tab in providing Chile news in English but they are not focused on them specifically though. Most of the content is provided from Mercosur.
Latercera
This is my last contribution to news sources for Chile. It is not translated but can be through google. This is the weakest source in my opinion as it is owned by one of the major monopoly companies, Copesa, and it holds a lot of ads.

Political Climate and Media Biases

Chile is ranked #52 countries in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index. According to RSF.org, a growing number of citizens report distrust in these major news sources due to perceived bias and lack of transparency.In Chile, most news outlets are controlled by a few business groups, making it difficult for new independent media to gain credibility and financial support. Dominant players include El Mercurio, La Tercera, Mega, TVN, ChileVision, and T13.

Academic Sources

Mellado, C., Cruz, A.Navigating the information overload: A study of different types of news avoidance among audiences in Chile. Cuadernos.Info, (59), 48-70. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.59.76243
Same article as above, but in English.