A Beacon in Central America
El Faro is an award-winning Central American news outlet that produces in-depth and investigative journalism on many platforms, including audio, documentary films, and books. Founded in San Salvador in April 1998, we are the first digital-native news outlet in Latin America. For 25 years, we have gained recognition around the world for independence, transparency, and trustworthiness in covering corruption, organized crime, migration, inequality, impunity, and human rights in Central America.
Who Owns El Faro?
El Faro was founded in San Salvador by journalist Carlos Dada and businessman Jorge Simán in 1998. Ownership was later shared with current or former newsroom members José Luis Sanz, Carlos Martínez, Sergio Arauz, Daniel Valencia, Óscar Martínez, Ricardo Vaquerano, and Élmer Menjívar. Since April 2023, El Faro has been registered as a non-profit organization in San José, Costa Rica.
How is El Faro Financed?
At its inception El Faro had no capital investors, growing with the volunteer work of its journalists, editors, and directors. As a mission-driven organization, none of its shareholders were ever paid dividends. By 2021, our current full-time team was sustained by five sources: international foundations (75%), advertising (7%), workshops and events (4%), royalties for books, films, and syndication (8%), and reader contributions (6%).
How to Support Us
Join our community of crowdfunders, a group of over 1,200 people in El Salvador, the United States, and around the world. You’ll receive exclusive access to events with our newsroom and the annual Central American Journalism Forum (ForoCAP).
Contact Us
At El Faro English we want to be in permanent conversation with our readers. If you have questions, feedback (especially corrections), or scoops, write to us at english@elfaro.net. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook. To report an issue with our website, send us a message at support@elfaro.net.
Our Team
El Faro has over 30 staff members, including reporters and editors, audience and social media managers, web developers, audio and video producers, sales representatives, ForoCAP organizers, and an outstanding administrative team. El Faro English, in charge of this edition, is a small team based in Guatemala and Washington, D.C.
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