MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile's El Mercurio celebrates 110th anniversary

A long editorial history for a young country

Chile’s most widely distributed newspaper, El Mercurio, has celebrated a birthday. On June 1, the daily celebrated 110 years. The paper’s staff met this week to celebrate the event.

El Mercurio’s director Cristian Zegers, who has held the position for the last four years, explained that in the world of news, longevity does not necessarily guarantee popularity. He said that the success of the paper has not been due to luck or situational factors – rather, it came down to pure hard work.

El Mercurio has a readership of 145, 000 Chileans every week.

Zeegers made no mention of the millions of dollars El Mercurio received from the CIA during the Allende years, nor the soft loans the newspaper received from the Pinochet dictatorship when the Chilean economy bottomed out in the 1980s.

Those who attended the celebration received a copy of the very first El Mercurio, which came out on June 1, 1900.

Zegers said he hoped this gift would serve as “a pleasant memory, a good omen and a testimony of recognition and admiration, to those who came before us and to every one of (those who now work in the paper).”

The ceremony was attended by those who hold high positions at the daily, managers, editors, bosses of sections, journalists and other employees.

By Alia Alhafny – Santiago Times