Colombia's FARC rebels are going from being the news -- to running the news. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- the country's largest rebel group -- demobilized in 2016 after signing a peace agreement with the government. Since then, thousands of FARC rebels are trying to re-enter civilian life. Many are looking for new projects -- and for some, that's journalism. CGTN's Michelle Begue reports from Bogota.

In his youth Manuel Bolivar got experience similar to an embedded war correspondent. He was a member of the Colombian guerilla insurgent group FARC, reporting on the rebel's clandestine radio program called Voices of the Resistance and creating propaganda videos for the rebels.

Now he is the news director of FARC's new media organization called Nueva Colombia Noticias, or NC News for short.

MANUEL BOLIVAR, DIRECTOR NC NEWS "Many of those who sit with me here, we were together in the mountains doing a beautiful job on the radio program. And to see it now grow into something like NC News, it brings a lot of satisfaction."

Far from their past reporting jobs in the jungle, these former rebels now get to step inside congress to interview Colombia's politicians and ask everyday Colombians on the street for their opinions on current events.

NC News is only transmitted online through their YouTube channel and Facebook page. Today, field reporter Esequiel Gonzalez, is sending live updates from a protest led by victims of the armed conflict. He says the reason he enjoys being a journalist is similar to the reasons he chose to join FARC at 12 years of age.

ESEQUIEL GONZALEZ NC NEWS CORRESPONDENT "As former combatants but still members of FARC I hope we will continue to take these feelings of discontent from the Colombian people and of the victims and keep them at the center of our work, which is to bring change in Colombia."

The channel has 25 team members in Bogota, and several reporters across the country reporting from 26 demobilization zones. Their media training comes by inviting outside professionals in to collaborate or by taking courses in subsidized government institutions. Manuel Bolivar says he knows that they have a long way to go, before audiences trust in their journalistic credibility, but he says they are up for the challenge.

MANUEL BOLIVAR, DIRECTOR NC NEWS "As we try to move towards becoming a professional journalistic media outlet, we say we need to do our job supremely rigorously and with a lot of discipline and dedication so that our journalistic work can be seen that way."

MICHELLE BEGUE BOGOTA "NC News officials say they hope to build their audience by offering alternative viewpoints - and by covering the lives of rural Colombians, too often ignored and forgotten, they say, by the traditional media. Michelle Begue, CGTN, Colombia."