Chavez suspends radio-TV program during campaign

[Judi Lynn]

Chavez suspends radio-TV program during campaign
The Associated Press
Saturday, August 21, 2010; 4:55 PM

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is taking his Sunday TV and radio program off the air until October during campaigning for legislative elections.

The Information Ministry says "Hello, President" will not appear this weekend to make room for televised coverage of a voting drill by electoral officials and the final of the women's baseball World Cup.

And with campaigning for the Sept. 26 elections officially launching next week, the ministry said in a statement Saturday that the program will be suspended until after the vote out of respect for electoral rules.

In addition to "Hello, President," Chavez usually makes marathon speeches several times a week.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/21/AR2010082102215.html

[Peace Patriot]

1. "Marathon speeches." Hm. I guess a president who advocates for PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

has a lot to say to his constituents, a lot of DISCLOSURE of his views that he wants to do, so they know who he is and what his policies are, a lot of ISSUES that he wants Venezuelans to understand IN DETAIL--so they can know what their government is doing, so they can JUDGE him DIRECTLY, without the filters of the corpo-fascist press.

Give us such a "marathon," PLEASE. I would very much like to see Barack Obama speak to us directly, at length, in detail, about everything he is doing--"several times a week"--instead of being wrapped up in a "security" package of "sound bites" aimed at the corpo-fascist press and THEIR attention spans.

And 24/7 fascism from the corpo-fascist press (including non-stop BS from the Associated Pukes, et al) is not a "marathon," but an ELECTED president speaking to his people AT LENGTH is?!

Damnation, how I hate their lies--their bogeyman "talking points"!

[naaman fletcher]

2. You know who else gave marathon speeches? nt

[Peace Patriot]

3. Do tell us, coy one. nt

[naaman fletcher]

5. oh come on...

It was a joke!

[Mika]

4. FDR

---

[Peace Patriot]

6. Ha-ha! I was actually thinking of FDR and his weekly radio broadcasts. Leader communication

frequently and in detail is a good government practice. It was here, when we had it. It is now in Venezuela.

The corpo-fascist media doesn't want ordinary people to be involved in government, nor to understand the details of issues, policy and laws, nor to have a direct relationship with their elected representatives. They want to be the gatekeepers--the controllers of perceptions about political leaders--and the filters through which we perceive issues and political developments. I should say, they want to be and ARE.

Chavez gets around this tyranny of the corpo-fascist 'news' monopolies by speaking to people directly on his weekly call-in TV show and by public speeches that provide detailed accounts of government actions and policies that TV channels are required to broadcast. Here, the president and other public officials have to beg time on TV, if they need it, because BIG PROFITS are involved. The public good is irrelevant. The networks used to provide public service, by broadcasting full presidential speeches, full political convention coverage and other public services. Now they arrogantly decide what we will see of our political leaders and what we won't see. Our political leaders could use NPR to communicate with us. But that, too, has been corporatized, and provides only filtered (and highly biased) information. Further, our politicians play into this system by speaking in "sound bites." Thoughtful political discussion is almost non-existent on our public TV/radio airwaves.

I much prefer Venezuela's system. The airwaves are all PUBLIC property, as here. Licenses to use them should REQUIRE certain public services, including providing alternative political opinions to the station's managers/owners. I would very much like to see our presidents and other leaders survive for hours at a time in unscripted appearances.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Absolutely. Anyone literate heard of "Fireside chats" so long ago! FAMOUS for his direct talk

with and to the U.S. American public. No one like him before or since, no one beloved as he was. No one who did as MUCH as he did for the American people.

http://www.constitutioncenter.org.nyud.net:8090/timeline/flash/assets/asset_upload_file162_12197.jpg http://images1.buymusichere.net.nyud.net:8090/images/books/02/0806123702.jpg

http://www.inetours.com.nyud.net:8090/DC/images/FDR/fireside_2148.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_Afw3Fm59pqQ/RyNzi_XT6OI/AAAAAAAAAU4/smvN0lIe2eA/s400/DC+-+FDR+Memorial+-+radio+fireside+chat+listener.jpg http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net.nyud.net:8090/photos-ak-snc1/v4462/63/43/716590510/n716590510_7087716_6671532.jpg