Carlos Dada Speaks at UT

Carlos Dada, the editor and founder of El Faro, recently spoke at the University of Texas at Austin as part of its ongoing "Central America: Broken Democracies?" speakers series sponsored by the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies and the Harte Lectureship on Latin America and the Media.

Here are some of the highlights from Knight Center's coverage:

"At El Faro we don't like to count dead bodies.  We've found the only way to respond to violence is with long-format journalism -- narrative and investigative journalism."

As such, he said, El Faro is looking for resources to set up a special newsroom just to cover violence in Central America because "our first mission is to understand what's going on, and that's not easy."

"This is violence for the sake of violence, so what do we do with these people?" Dada asked, then went on to say: "We need stronger institutions, we need more resources, we need efficient tools to have justice and a better way of life. When you turn 15, you have three choices: become a victim, become a victimizer, or you come to the United States."