R.I.P for Noriegaville
This will have more than one politician doing cartwheels on the marble floor of the 3-story condo we payed for with our tax payer dollars, but check out our blogosphere’s econo-savvy representative from the democratic republic of Denmark and you’ll read news of political site Noriegaville.com calling it quits. If you don’t know Noriegaville, then this was it in a nutshell: real news. If you visit the site’s catalogue you’ll notice vigilantilism of all things politics in Panama, and how people of power take advantage of those without leverage. It was great stuff to read, always spearheaded by one Okke Ornstein. He’s kind of like Columbo, but Dutch. The reason why I’m writing this entry (other than to give the man his props) is because Okke’s reasons for departure are quite clear in the site’s last editorial:
Panama, as said, is a developing democracy and that applies to potential advertisers as well. They’re still afraid of controversy and debate or anything that others call “fresh air” and “outside the box.” So, no advertisers really dared venture on Noriegaville’s pages, and that has in its turn prevented further development of the site. I’d love to have had more writers, introduce more photography and even video, set up a travel section, maybe launch a print edition and in general write more stories on subjects other than crime, corruption and political scandal. But it’s impossible to do such with a publication that doesn’t generate any income because advertisers are afraid to touch it.
I think it’s a real shame. Another great voice silenced because of the socially retarded country he was sent to by whatever god you believe in. This is the stuff that downright enfuriates me about this pot of land and the people living in it: for all of its grandiosity and hospitality, their ability to try innovative stuff is equivalent to a newborn’s ability to wipe his own ass. And before you get upset like you did with my friend, fellow Panamanian, I will direct you to Exhibit A: your television set. I bet it’s turned on right now, but if it ain’t then I suggest you do so now and flip around our country’s fine selection of local channels. Nevermind the news that only manage to depress you nor the soap operas that really show how low we’ve sunken; check out the ads. Advertisements here are most insulting clips of video I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Ever. I take it that if you’re reading this then chances are you’ve been exposed to advertisements in South America and Europe… Asia, even. Ads in other countries are subtle, smart, sexy… they make you smile because you realize they’ve taken you for a ride until after the ad is over. Here, Panamanians can’t process that type of marketing: you’ll always see the most dull, stupid, matter-of-fact ads to ever grace the airwaves, telling you exactly what you need to know: what the product is, what it does, and how much it’ll cost. They teach you this in college, that direct marketing is the one that moves the most product… fantastic. But then, why is it that sexy Nintendo DS Lite ads in Europe and Asia, each country with its own individual campaign (mind you), moves thousands of units per week, when here I have to find out that the NDS Lite is $100 more expensive than anywhere else I’ve heard of along with the $29.99 blender, thr $5 jeans, $2 shoes, and the 12 pairs of socks for 99 cents, while I only know 3 people with the portable console? It’s an epileptic attack of ads in a 30-second time slot. Argentina has the economic slump that makes its currency equal in value to navel lint and they still make better ads than we do. Ads that sell.
Where I’m getting at with this rant is that Panama suffers from lack of originality, and the virus that contaminates the populace with it is so strong that when cultural warriors like Okke come along and try to make things interesting and better, they’re shot down by things out of their control. If I fear anything, then it’s that. I don’t want Panama to gobble me up and spit me out too just because it’s socially retarded. Hopefully this won’t be the last of Okke Ornstein, and if his part work is any indication then he will be back to raise some hell. Good luck to you, sir.
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I think youre giving Panama a disservice in saying that it suffers from a lack of originality. La Cascara, Dealante etc are alle examples. La Cascara I believe still has the most expensive advertising time on TV in the country while being very critical at the same time.
Okke wasn’t shot down even though many people tried. He just didn’t get the advertising he wanted. I believe and he can correct me if I’m wrong that he never tried getting mainstream Panamanian advertisers.
His target audience was mostly expats and most of what he writes is directly contradicting most of the “expat oriented” businesses like real estate etc.
So his real problem was a business problem not a lack of an audience. Basically he was looking for purchasers of a product that didn’t make sense to advertisers.
You could make an argument that ads for Balboa, Carta Vieja etc. would work, but getting into that requires some seriously selling leg work. I dont think Okke ever went for them.
I’ll agree with you regarding La Cascara; they’ve managed to create an excellent system for themselves without being sell-outs.
DeAlante not so much because, even though they’re actually covering news now, a lot of its audience goes there to check out the pictures. Hell, the only times I go over there is to find pics of girls with big tits for my editorials. But compared to rest of them, DeAlante is the cream of the crop.
What sucks to me is that if Okke was raising hell somewhere with a lot more people, say Colombia, I’m sure he would’ve found advertisers that would’ve kept the site running. But alas, we’re in Panama… it’s a shame, too; I really enjoyed that website.
I can’t believe this man, now I am afraid to move to Panama. I don’t want me or any family members to be attacked or threatened by some stinking goons who can get away with murder down there if I want to publish my own beliefs no matter how many others may agree with me. I don’t know where else to go now as Panama was like one of the only affordable places left that I thought had some independence, free speech, free conscience, and privacy laws.
The whole world is being overrun by thugs and the rest are being twisted into allowing Marxist dictators or Islamic psychos take us over.
I know what comes next but I don’t want to think about it.
I wouldn’t say that the outlook is TOTALLY bad. I definitely wouldn’t want you and your family to not come to Panama to invest and live, because it’s people like you that this country needs.
At least this ain’t Darfur. The “juega vivo” culture that’s implanted into the Panamanian’s DNA will take generations to wash off, but we mean well. At least most do. And you can be sure that whenever there’s some injustice happening, someone like Okke, or like me or like the vast number of people who are also tired of this will call the evildoers out.
Free speech and freedom of expression are here… Panamanians are still adjusting to what that actually means, though. Give them time.
well it is a tad discouraging but anything worth doing takes effort.
I am in the process of starting a radio station in panama. I am an ex-pat who hopes to allow persons the right to express their opinions. I plan to go FM and over the internet andbe very diverse multi ethnic multilingual and commercial free. I am molding it after a station in the USA one of i believe 5 that are truly commercial free.
I havw already expierenced influence from local authorities and imagine an on going dialog throughout…. we shall see
as the time comes… but it is discouragiing to see anyfreedom stifled.
maybe i will be asked to leave?
Mesaschmoo, though I’ve been lazy to update this entry (and probably should do it, in retrospect), I’m happy to report that Noriegaville is back on its feet and has been for a while. You can access the new site by going to http://www.Noriegaville.com. Drop Okke a line, I bet he’ll be interested in participating in your radio station.
Hell, I’m interested too.
Noriegaville is closed and the site states: “Sorry, but The Noriegaville News is closed and is not coming back. Some deeply disturbed people have a problem with investigative in-your-face journalism in Panama and have not just kept their hate campaigns online but also moved them into the real world. The benefits of publishing this site do no longer outweigh the threats against family, people showing up with stun guns at my house and the abuse of Panama’s legal system and its backward libel laws for pure harrassment. It’s a great disappointment having to conclude that Panama does not offer a safe environment for free speech and publishing online, and that foreign rogues take advantage of these circumstances, but there is little we can do about it.” — But the serious truth is that Panama is more corrupt than it ever was under Manual Noriega. When you look at the Panama City skyline do you really think all of this is from legitimate investments? Don’t fool yourself. Panama is the biggest money laundering machine on the planet and most of it done with the blessing of those in power in the U.S. government. Oh! Why would anybody want to live near an open sewer called the Bay of Panama is beyond me… Must be a Third World thing to do.