What is the Venezuelan News Media Actually Like?

[subsuelo]

Listening to accounts by the U.S. news media and to the public postures taken by the Bush administration, one would think that there is no freedom of expression in Venezuela. The impression most U.S. citizens have is that the media is virtually under direct state control. Independent reporting, free from the government’s fiery rhetoric, has been noticeably absent. A careful and sober account of Venezuelan media that focuses on the most basic and uncontroversial facts of what constitutes the Venezuelan media today has been non-existent in mainstream U.S. media (and even in many independent sources as well). Such reporting could present a more accurate picture of the actual situation of freedom of expression in Venezuela.
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Looking at Venezuela’s print media paints an even greater opposition presence than television, with publications deeply critical of the Chávez administration, commercially oriented and corporate-owned. The D.C.-based think-tank Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) described the issue in blunt terms: “nine out of ten newspapers, including El Nacional and El Universal, are staunchly anti-Chávez” (Council of Hemispheric Affairs, August 21, 2005). Opposition to Chávez, given the commercial character of daily newspapers in Venezuela, is especially rampant in print; not even one major daily newspaper is controlled or funded by the state.

There are twenty-one daily newspapers in Venezuela’s largest city and capital, Caracas, eleven of which are considered to be of significant influence and eight of which that are also distributed nationally. This pales in comparison to the situation in the U.S., where the largest city has only four major dailies (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Daily News), at least two of which are significantly sympathetic to the Bush administration’s policies. Further, only two of these four papers (New York Times and Wall Street Journal) double as a nationally distributed daily newspaper – the U.S. only has four nationally distributed daily papers (the USA Today and Washington Post comprising the other two).

Venezuela thus has at least as varied a print sector as the U.S. does – and in some ways, it is more diverse. Indisputably, Venezuela has a wider array of print choices and a larger amount of nationally distributed publications. But this is not the only democratic aspect of Venezuelan media. An often overlooked but widespread movement has also come to bear in a country full of social and political change.

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[Bacchus39]

1. students exercising their free speech in Venezuela

01:12 PM) Estudiantes exigen respeto a la vida con cruces y urnas de anime (students demand respect for life with crosses and urns)


Caracas.- Un grupo de estudiantes protestó hoy en la sede del Ministerio del Poder Popular para las Relaciones de Interior y Justicia para exigir a la cartera del Ejecutivo que tome acciones inmediatas para contrarrestar los niveles de delincuencia e inseguridad registrados en el país.

Students protest to the Ministry of Popular Power for Interior Relations and Justice to demand the Executive office take immediate actions to counter the level of delinquency and insecurity in the country.

Los jóvenes manifestaron con cruces y urnas de anime en las adyacencias del edificio gubernamental.

Gabriel Gallo, alumno de la Universidad Santa María (USM) y coordinador de la Región Capital del Parlamento Estudiantil explicó las razones de la protesta.

"Nosotros hemos acudido al día de hoy a las puertas de esta institución, la cual debería representar la seguridad del Estado, a decirle que nosotros estamos en contra de la impunidad porque es el motor que está incentivando la impunidad en este país", aseguró.

"We have come today to the doors of this institution, which should represent the security of the STate, to tell you that we are against the impunity it is the motor that gives incentives to the impunity of this country."

"La impunidad es lo que ha causado que no tengamos responsables de la muerte de Douglas Rojas Jiménez. La impunidad está causando que en este país hayan muertos todos los días y nadie sea castigado", sentenció Gallo.

"The impnity is what has caused that we have no one held responsilbe for the death of Douglas Rojas Jimenez. The impunity is causing that this country there are deaths everyday and no-one is punished"

Asimismo, los estudiantes exigieron la renuncia de Francisco Solórzano, director de la Policia de Mérida, por considerar que es uno de los responsables de la pérdida de la vida de Rojas Jiménez.

for that, the students demanded the resignation of Francisco Solorzano, police director of Merida, considering that he is one of thos responsible for the loss of life of Rojas Jimenez

El universitario explicó que la manifestación con cruces y urnas de anime tiene como objetivo que los venezolanos reflexionen sobre el hecho que se debe "rescatar la seguridad" en el territorio nacional.

http://www.eluniversal.com/2008/07/15/pol_ava_estudiantes-exigen-r_15A1798761.shtml

Yolimer Obelmejías Valdez
eluniversal.com