🇨🇴 El Tiempo

About El Tiempo

El Tiempo was founded in 1911 by Alfonso Villegas Restrepo. From 1913 to 2007, it was primarily owned by the influential Santos family, with several members holding political office. In 2007, Spanish Grupo Planeta acquired a majority stake, which was then sold in 2012 to Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, Colombia's wealthiest businessman, through his Grupo Aval companies, making him the sole owner.

El Tiempo is considered a newspaper of record for Colombia and has historically held a centrist political alignment. However, its editorial stance has been influenced by the economic interests of its successive proprietors. A 2018 report alleged that El Tiempo published undisclosed paid content, or 'native advertising,' without clear labeling, raising concerns about editorial independence and transparency. While major media bias rating sites like Media Bias/Fact Check, Ad Fontes Media, and AllSides do not provide a specific bias rating, Ground News assigns it an 'unknown factuality' rating. The broader media environment in Colombia is characterized by a free press with a strong investigative tradition, but journalists face threats from armed groups and political actors, and self-censorship is common.