Nuria Leon, a journalist and postgraduate student at the University of Westminster, recently demanded an explanation from BBC director-general Mark Thompson regarding the lack of varied BBC news content from Latin America. You can listen to the encounter here.

Now she needs journalists’ help: for her MA dissertation in media management she wants to find out what journalists think about coverage of Latin America in the UK. [NB: Latin American countries listed here, and UN information on the Americas here.]

So, if you think there is a hole in English-language reportage from that part of the world, please help her out. Here are her questions. Please leave your thoughts below, or email her directly: n.leon at my.westminster.ac.uk.

• 1. Given your own experiences:

• a. What do you think causes a gap between between Latin America and the UK in regards to the distribution and production of news?

• b. What would help create a direct link between both markets for the production and distribution of news?

• 2. What do you think about international news agencies and their service from Latin America?

• 3. Do you think there is a demand for customised news services, rather than homogeneous news packages offered by international news agencies?

• 4. What benefits would you see if both markets started to conduct direct, continuous and permanent business?

• 5.  Do you think the UK would be receptive to more Latin American news content?

• 6. Do you believe there is a niche for such a service? A need?

• 7. More generally, what could help reduce the gap between Latin America and the UK news industry?