Visualizing Corruption: A Pop Culture Approach to Transparency
In collaboration with the National Foundation for Development of El Salvador, Factum launched Visualizing Corruption, a video series designed to make discussions on transparency and corruption more accessible.
These topics, often weighed down by technical jargon, were reimagined using widely recognized pop culture references—ranging from Dora the Explorer to Shakira’s music—to engage broader audiences. The series resonated widely, amassing over 30,000 views, reaching more than 300,000 people, and achieving an impressive 68% retention rate, far exceeding the outlet’s average.
Snapshot of one of the videos.
My role in this project was to conceptualize the themes, find the references, and write the scripts.
“A los corruptos se les acabó la fiesta” (The Party Is Over for the Corrupt)
In 2004, businessman-turned-politician Tony Saca promised that if elected president, he would put an end to the party for malacates (crooks). Years later, it was Saca himself who faced justice, sentenced to prison for corruption. While his personal party ended, corruption in El Salvador has not. This episode explores the persistence of shady political deals using one of the country’s most memorable political quotes.
📺 Watch: YouTube
“Una Corte Suprema para jugar escondelero” (A Supreme Court Playing Hide-and-Seek)
For generations, Salvadoran children have played escondelero (hide-and-seek), doing everything they can to avoid being found. Today, the judiciary plays a similar game—not to ensure justice, but to conceal it. This episode examines how the Salvadoran Supreme Court has been captured, turning oversight into a game where the seekers are either blindfolded or complicit.
📺 Watch: YouTube
“Zorro, no robes” (Swiper, No Swiping)
Salvadoran institutions tasked with fighting corruption have been co-opted by Nayib Bukele and his inner circle, rendering them ineffective. Rather than deterring corruption, they serve as mere facades. The situation has become so dire that, much like in Dora the Explorer, citizens are left with no choice but to beg the looters: Swiper, no swiping!
📺 Watch: YouTube
“Brutos, ciegos, sordomudos” (Foolish, Blind, Deaf)
In 2011, El Salvador passed one of the world’s most robust Freedom of Information laws. However, successive governments have systematically weakened it by appointing complacent commissioners to the oversight body. As a result, the country—echoing a famous Shakira song—has become foolish, blind, and deaf to transparency.
📺 Watch: YouTube
Call Center Series: The Attorney General and Transparency
Few things are as frustrating as dealing with a call center—long waits, evasive answers, and zero solutions. This episode recreates two such calls: one from a citizen seeking public transparency, and another questioning an attorney general who once vowed to fight corruption but turned out to be one of the weakest in recent history.
📺 Watch: Call #1 | Call #2
By blending investigative journalism with satire and pop culture, Visualizing Corruption made the urgent conversation around transparency more relatable—and impossible to ignore.
