On June 23, our executive director, Magdalena Sepúlveda, participated in the webinar "Extreme inequality: the role of journalism in the agenda on taxes on the super-rich," which was organised jointly by GI-ESCR, Gabo Foundation, and Oxfam.

More than 50 journalists from the Latin American region participated in the webinar. The aim was to encourage them to cover issues of inequality and taxation in the region. In this context, the media is a vital bridge. We interact with them, focusing on articles and interviews, op-eds, and seminars where we convey alternatives for transformative change.

Thus, understanding the need to transform media narratives to garner citizen support for progressive tax policies, and following the journalists' workshop held during June in Bogotá, Colombia, Magdalena Sepúlveda spoke with the prominent investigative journalist Mónica González, about the panorama in Latin America and the Caribbean, where tax systems favor extreme inequality. She highlighted that tax systems in Latin America and the Caribbean favor the ultra-rich, who pay proportionately less tax than the poorest 50%. 

Magdalena Sepúlveda also stressed that inequality is not inevitable. And we seek to break the dynamics of privileges for a few that deny rights to the majority.

Journalism has a fundamental role in making these issues visible and placing them on the public agenda so that the leaders and elites of Latin America take them into account. In the words of Sepúlveda, "Journalism has made a great contribution. We are talking about taxes and inequality, thanks to that work. As a citizen, I hope that journalists will continue to raise awareness and thus achieve the mobilisations and social changes that are needed."

Similarly, the director of Tax Justice and Knowledge Oxfam México, Carlos Brown Solá, sustained that "journalism involves understanding global processes and changing conversations. In recent decades, the economy has not been considered a political matter, when in reality, when we talk about economics, we talk about politics."

Brazilian reporter Idiana Tomazelli from Folha de Sao Paulo, underscored the need to personalise data to reveal the identities behind economic disparities. "The information needs to be translated to show what it means. The data shows that the richest 0.01% (in Brazil) pay little taxes, but people generally have no idea who the richest 0.01% is."

This webinar is part of our ongoing efforts to find innovative ways to promote social and economic justice. Changing public narratives is part of our mission.

You can watch the webinar here.