Maravi

Venezuelan vice-president challenges media

Venezuelan vice-president challenges media
By Larry Moonze
Wednesday May 30, 2007 [04:00]

VENEZUELAN Vice-President Jorge Rodriguez has asked the media to demonstrate it could remain popular without having to turn vulgar. But closed RCTV manager Marcel Granier has promised to reorganize, fight and continue working. In his comments on the closure of the privately-run Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) and immediately replaced by a new public broadcaster Venezuelan Televisora Social (TVES), Vice-President Rodriguez said TVES did not have to be vulgar in its presentations.

"It has to demonstrate that it can make a plural, entertaining and cultivating television by breaking away from the model that the popular has to be vulgar," said Vice-President Rodriguez. Since last year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed never to renew RCTV license when it expired on May 27.

President Chavez contended that the activity of RCTV over the years responded to the interests of an oligarchy that "has been erasing history, ignoring and scorning the creativity that exists in our nation."

With the closure of RCTV, Venezuela has been turned into an epicentre of the continental battle for mass media democratisation.

TVES went out on Monday through the channel 2 frequencies, which had been used by RCTV for 53 years, and whose licence expired on Sunday.

The handover of Channel 2 to TEVES is protected by Article 108 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which orders the guaranteeing of "public radio, television and library and informatics networks, with the aim of allowing universal access to information."

The Venezuelan government cited several violations and sanctions, as well as constitutional and legal factors as underpinning its decision not to grant RCTV the concession to use radio-electric space.

For 53 years, RCTV enjoyed the exploitation of channel 2 of the country's air transmission spectrum until Sunday May 27.

According to reports from the Ministry of Telecommunications, in the last 30 years RCTV was subject to several proceedings for unfair practices (2003, 2004, 2005) and infractions.

The ministry stated that RCTV sanctions included temporal broadcast closure, applied under previous governments (1976, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1989 and 1991).

But it stated that the darkest page of RCTV record was written in April 2002, when RCTV management cut its daily programmes to support the coup against President Hugo Chavez and his democratically elected government.

"Everybody remembers here that the channel took part in what was considered the world's first media coup, preventing reporters from broadcasting information on the failed coup attempt," stated the ministry. "It later played a leading role against the government during the long oil strike which strangled the country."
But Granier, who is president of Empresas 1BC, owners of RCTV said dictatorship has come to Venezuela.

"We have arrived at totalitarianism," said Granier.

"We will reorganise and continue working. One is beginning a fight, not violent, but active, very active."

Granier said President Chavez was afraid of free thought and criticism. He said the closure of the station would affect over 200 journalists and some 3,000 employees, including the entire Venezuelan society who were ardent followers of the station's programmes.

Meanwhile, Venezuela has accused CNN of lying and spreading political propaganda against it. The Bolivarian government has equally instituted investigations against a Venezuelan channel Globovision for possible charge of inciting the assassination of President Hugo Chavez.

Communication and Information minister William Lara, when he presented a demand to investigate Globovision at the Attorney General's Office on Monday, said CNN had gone to the extreme of violating the code of ethics of any social communicator in the world, accusing the US medium of dealing in lies. "CNN tells bare-faced lies because it assumes a political stand against Venezuela," Lara said. He said CNN deceived and manipulated viewers.

On Globovision, Lara said at the time some people in opposition to the government's refusal to renew RCTV licence took to streets, Globovision implicitly called for President Chavez’ assassination by airing footage of the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II. Lara said several consulted specialists agreed that this was an act of incitement to assassination, and stressed "this is what we are asking the attorney general to investigate."

Labels: MEDIA, VENEZUELA

posted by MrK @ 3:37 AM