Presidential Campaign, Press and Gaitanismo, 1944-1946

Abstract

The article examines the articulation between the presidential campaign of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán —in its condition of liberal dissidence— and the existence of the main journalistic organ of gaitanismo between 1944 and 1946: Jornada. It seeks to demonstrate how that newspaper became an instrument fundamental political for the central objectives of the campaign and to consolidate an influential position of the candidate and his immediate circle of followers in the public debate. At first, the crisis of the government of Alfonso López Pumarejo is alluded to as a key factor that makes the candidacy of Gaitán viable; then, the formation of the movement “For the moral and democratic restoration of the Republic” is deepened as the organizing base of the campaign. The third part of the article analyzes the process of creation of Jornada, its conditions of editorial, political and material existence, and the way in which the printed paper displayed its political-journalistic activity in a context of growing political confrontation.