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Venezuelans Lose More Media Outlets as Chavez Takes Over Radio Stations

4:29 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Latin America|Media|society|Venezuela · 3 Comments

3 Aug 2009

“Freedom of expression must be limited.”

That’s what Venezuela’s Attorney General Luisa Ortega said late last week when defending tough new legislation which would restrict what can be said on radio and television in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. No sooner had this statement been made did Venezuela announce the closing of some 34 radio stations:

More than a dozen of 34 radio stations ordered shut by the Venezuelan government went off the air on Saturday, part of President Hugo Chavez’s drive to extend his socialist revolution to the media.

The association of radio broadcasters said 13 stations had stopped transmitting, following an announcement Friday night by government broadcasting watchdog Conatel that 34 radio outlets would be closed because they failed to comply with regulations.

While I was shocked at the Chavez-ordered takeover of RCTV in 2007, I am not shocked by this massive squashing of freedom of speech and freedom of the press in these radio station closings. I’m just disgusted.

And so are lots of others. Protests have spontaneously broken out around Venezuela but I fear there is nothing to do now. How do you fight against this ideology?

We haven’t closed any radio stations, we’ve applied the law,” Chavez said on state television. “We’ve recovered a bunch of stations that were outside the law, that now belong to the people and not the bourgeoisie.”

Translation: “We’re closing down a bunch of stations that have criticized me because we can.”

A sad, sad time for Venezuela and I think it’s only going to get worse. One ray of light: activists are using Twitter to get the word out to the rest of the world on what’s going on in Venezuela. For updates, check out hashtag #FreeMediaVe on Twitter.com.

Via / Reuters

RCTV to go back on the air…on cable

5:49 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Media|Politics|TV|Venezuela · Comments Off

13 Jul 2007

Nearly defunct Venezuelan television station RCTV — put to bed last month by an order from President Hugo Chavez — will return to the airwaves this coming Monday. Not the national airwaves, but on cable television, where according to the BBC, only 30% of Venezuelans will be able to view it, since the cost is out of reach to most citizens. Nonetheless, RCTV is pushing forward:

“Venezuelans want RCTV and they will have it,” RCTV’s owner Marcel Granier told a news conference at which he announced that cable broadcasts would begin on 16 July.

“Until we achieve the goal of regaining our signal, we must try to return to the air as soon as possible through alternative means,” he said.

Another alternative means used by RCTV to get around their lack of a government broadcasting license is YouTube, where the network began loading content last month.

Via / BBC News

RCTV bites back and broadcasts on YouTube

2:15 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Media|TV|Venezuela · 1 Comment

1 Jun 2007

We’ve been telling you about the controversial closing of Venezuela’s RCTV for a few days, talking about the public’s reaction, the protests and president Hugo Chavez’s threats to other media that their fate could be the same. But what’s become of RCTV in the past few days? They’re not just sitting around lamenting the passing of their network. They’ve found a way to work around Chavez’s broadcasting restriction by broadcasting somewhere where (at least for now) free speech reigns: the internet.

Using YouTube, it’s almost business as usual for the forbidden network, which filed this report from the RCTV protests which continue to rage on:

According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, RCTV is also being helped along by Colombia’s Caracol network, which is allowing them to broadcast via an international signal.

Yet another example of how the internet is empowering people to find alternate ways to express themselves. I wonder if Chavez will block YouTube in Venezuela now.

Via / 20 Minutos and RCTV’s “El Observador” YouTube page

RCTV closing roundup: Protests go on amid Chavez threats

8:16 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Media|TV|Venezuela · Comments Off

29 May 2007

Though RCTV went off the air over 48 hours ago, the media is still buzzing with stories about the end of Venezuela’s oldest television network.

El Universal reports that the International Press Institute has condemned Venezuela for the closing, saying:

“IPI believes the decision to close RCTV has apparent political motivations and believes RCTV came under attack because of its critical stance vis-à-vis Venezuelan current situation,” said IPI director Johann Fritz. “We urge both President Hugo Chávez and the relevant authorities to ensure that RCTV resumes broadcasts immediately.”

The BBC reports that the street protests in Caracas go on while President Hugo Chavez issued an ominous warning to another news network, Globovision, for broadcasting coverage of the events:

“Enemies of the homeland, particularly those behind the scenes, I will give you a name: Globovision. Greetings, gentlemen of Globovision, you should watch where you are going,” Mr Chavez said.

“I recommend you take a tranquiliser and get into gear, because if not, I am going to do what is necessary.”

RCTV is now TVes

12:27 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Media|TV|Venezuela · 3 Comments

28 May 2007

As many lamented the end of a Venezuelan institution last night with the closing of RCTV, as Maegan told us, there were others who celebrated its passing; among them the government figures responsible for the network that replaced it. Twenty-five minutes after RCTV said its last goodbye at midnight, TVes was born. The following video from YouTube user Nicolas Maduro shows the transition:

If that didn’t move you one way or the other, check out the images chronicling the closing on Flickr by users in Caracas.

Via / YouTube

RIP RCTV

9:56 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|TV|Venezuela · Comments Off

28 May 2007

While most in the United States are remembering those who fought on behalf of their country today, in Venezuela many are remembering Radio Caracas Television which officially went off the air yesterday at midnight. The station did not have its license renewed by President Hugo Chavez, who stated that the station was a haven for those who opposed him. The station is now a public service channel. People on both sides of the issue performed their public service by hitting the streets of Venezuela. Hundreds of protesters gathered at the station’s headquarters to protest the shutdown and red-clad government supporters gathered elsewhere to show support for the measure. Protests were not limited to Venezuela. About 400 people gathered in front of the Venezuelan embassy in El Salvador to protest the station shutdown.

Via / Yahoo! and El Diario / La Prensa

No love lost between Chavez and RCTV

11:06 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics|TV|Venezuela · 2 Comments

19 Jan 2007

A while back Maegan told us that Venezuela president Hugo Chavez was trying to pull the plug on Caracas’ oldest broadcaster, RCTV. The Washington Post reports that the hate that festers in the President’s camp was spurred by many things. One of them happens to be an apparent aversion towards telenovelas.

Government officials openly disparage RCTV’s daily programming — seeing its soaps as akin to pornography. The president has accused RCTV of “poisoning the souls of children with irresponsible sex.”

I’m sorry, living in a Latin American country that doesn’t allow me to view telenovelas does qualify as totalitarian. One government organizer is quoted as saying:

“The children are the ones affected for many years by the sex, by the violence of these programs that go against the morality of children, that go against the morality of the Venezuelan people.”

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