Sentiido: good journalism at the service of diversity

“Man with man, woman with woman, in the same way, in the opposite direction.” This phrase, which would go down in history after causing laughter during the 2008 National Beauty Pageant, was the inspiration with which Maria Mercedes Acosta and Li Cuéllar named their journalistic project aimed at filling the media vacuum regarding sexual diversity issues. Sentido Contrario (Opposite Direction) was born as a blog in 2011, when Instagram and smartphones had not yet arrived in Colombia, when the first digital media outlets were just emerging and LGBT was an acronym that was mostly unknown or viewed with prejudice.

The idea of creating “something digital” to talk about gender and diversity arose as a master’s thesis project in digital journalism that Maria Mercedes was studying. They began by publishing opinion columns, movie reviews, and short articles debunking the most common myths on the subject. That’s how the first comments came to the blog and the Facebook profile. People who were not familiar with the topic thanked them for the clear information, while the sexually diverse population expressed their relief that someone was finally representing them respectfully.

It was a venture as novel as it was risky, since at that time the sexual diversity movement in Colombia was just beginning to gain visibility and rights. After several months with that experiment, Maria Mercedes, the rigorous journalist, and Li, the “nerdy” academic, decided to combine their “styles, ways of writing and seeing the world,” as Li says, to dedicate themselves fully to this project. They stopped being a blog to become a media outlet called Sentiido, created their website, designed a new image, and began to produce deeper content, with all the elements of good journalism.

For example, they did an analysis of the way youth radio stations were promoting discrimination after Los 40 Principales caused outrage with a clearly homophobic dynamic that invited listeners to “report” people they considered “sissies” on air. They also published an article explaining the effects of school bullying due to homophobia, in which they highlighted successful initiatives and advice from psychologists to address the problem within families. Both cases were a sample of what Sentiido would be: journalism with a gender focus but with the tools of the “old school,” such as prior documentation, source corroboration, context, and clarity. Their stories appeared as an oasis in the desert of traditional media, which barely touched on the subject to announce that some celebrity had come out of the closet.

Neither Maria Mercedes nor Li were experts in gender issues, they just knew they were part of the acronym and that they did not see themselves reflected in that traditional coverage. They also had no idea how to create a sustainable media outlet. They learned by doing reports and profiles, getting to know stories, and knocking on doors. That’s how they came to Juan David Aristizábal, a renowned social entrepreneur who offered his time and knowledge to be able to answer convincingly when asked what Sentiido’s business model was. Today they are a non-profit organization with three main lines of action around sexual diversity and feminism: the journalistic one, which is the most well-known and is headed by Maria Mercedes; the workshops and consultancies, led by Li; and academic research, directed by the literary scholar and feminist Juliana Martínez.

Li Cuéllar, director of consultancies and workshops; Juliana Martínez, director of research; Maria Mercedes Acosta, director of journalism and communications. Credit: Pilar Mejía/ Sentiido.

Being witnesses and messengers of history

Sentiido grew as Colombia advanced in rights thanks to the insistence of the LGBTIQ movement. They covered the sit-ins in favor of marriage equality from a Plaza de Bolívar divided into two: activists on one side and conservative groups on the other. They reported on Twitter the minute-by-minute of those debates in Congress where a senator came to speak of “inane sex.” They held live talks about the gender identity law and the trans decree. They celebrated the favorable sentences on issues of adoption, education, marriage, and so many others during the years of triumphs for the movement.

They were also present in the most bitter moments. They explained, debunked, and informed with arguments when Viviane Morales tried to hold a referendum against equal adoption. Also, when the hardest blow came: the wave of disinformation that broke out during the 2016 plebiscite over the supposed “gender ideology.”

On that path, they realized that traditional media were increasingly betting on gender issues and covering them with greater respect. Then thousands of doubts appeared that led them to make a necessary turn: “We wondered if we were still relevant and that was a very hard blow. So we asked ourselves what we do differently and we started to do slower journalism, to let them have the scoop, we were going to do the analysis and we were going to look for different sources from the ones they always consult,” Li recalls. This has not only allowed them to remain relevant but their analyses and investigations are frequently a source for the mainstream media.

The founders of Sentiido have also transformed along the way. Li learned to write without footnotes and became a self-taught technology expert to learn how to manage the website and adapt its content to the demands of the digital world. For her part, Maria Mercedes broadened her vision of journalism and learned to question that red line of “not taking sides” that she was taught in college and in large newsrooms: “Sexual diversity is part of the spectrum of reality and if you want to do complete journalistic coverage, you have to take that part of reality into account. If that’s taking a side, then we take a side for a journalism that includes the entire spectrum of people.”

Aunt Nohora is one of the characters that Sentiido has created to connect with new audiences. Photo: Andrés Camilo Gómez /Sentiido.

Creativity to get out of the niche

The Sentiido team – which includes ten people from the journalistic, academic, and pedagogical worlds and other collaborators – knows that it owes a great deal to the LGBTIQ audience, but it is clear that this cannot be its only audience if they really want to counteract discrimination. That is why they also speak to mothers and fathers, teachers, other journalists, and even religious leaders. In addition to publishing content in formats ranging from text and video to comics, podcasts, or animation, they have created characters that have won the affection of their audiences. The most recent are ‘Aunt Nohora’ and ‘Uncle Jairo’, a personification of those who see sexual diversity from a distance and calmly say phrases like “I even have gay friends,” but who are open to resolving their doubts.

On that path of getting to know their audiences, they came to a discovery: religion is a crucial aspect in the lives of many LGBT people. And although religion and sexual diversity seem like opposing topics, Sentiido has managed to address them permanently and show its audience that it is indeed possible to combine them without feeling guilty. The articles on religion are some of the most read on their page and the comments section has become a space for venting and support. Although there are those who brand them “false prophets,” there are thousands of comments like Antonelia’s: “how difficult it is to be homosexual and a Christian”; Eduardo’s: “God is life, for everyone, for everything”; or Jairo’s: “Hopefully more churches will accept that their parishioners are diverse.”

That is the best example of the formula that, without planning it, Sentiido has applied during these 12 years: taking risks, talking about difficult topics, building community, and rethinking along the way. That is how they went from being a thesis project to a life project, as Li says, and became an organization that represents a safe space for many people and a library of learnings for so many others.

*Independent journalist.