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A30 world news
Diaranson 4 augustus 2021

On the bus or off, Venezuela journalists try to deliver news

documents media censorship mismanagement, continue
in Venezuela, said the news- to deepen. The country has
paper suspended its print edi- been in recession for years.
tion because of hyperinfla- Millions live in poverty amid
tion, increased maintenance high food prices, low wages
costs and a shortage of news- and hyperinflation.
print. Importing newsprint
has been made difficult by “What we are doing is jour-
the government’s tight cur- nalism but in a different way,”
rency controls, which have said Maximiliano Bruzual,
only eased recently, and the another journalist with El
creation of a state-run mo- Bus TV. “Journalism is used
nopoly to sell the paper to to being the media report-
media companies. ing news on television, radio
or the print media. What we
Now, residents in 11 of the do is get out of the box so to
country’s 23 states no longer speak.”
have access to regional news-
papers, according to Espacio Francisco Marquez used to
Público. sell dozens of newspapers a
day from a kiosk in Caracas.
The pressures have even Today, a full week’s supply of
pushed some to abandon the newspapers is three copies.
country after selling their as-
sets. That was the case at the “Three newspaper units. So,
Globovisión news channel. three people come and take
one newspaper each and it’s
In 2013, the channel was over,” he said Saturday next
sold to a group of business- to his kiosk.
men, including Raúl Gorrín,
(AP) — After boarding a la,” Lares told his audience of of the most difficult environ- a friend of Maduro’s govern- Hundreds of miles away,
bus in Venezuela’s capi- passengers after his newscast ments for the independent ment who has been sanc- southwest of Caracas in the
tal, Juan Pablo Lares sits one July afternoon. Stories press as the government has tioned by Washington over country’s Andean region, the
in front facing the pas- that day included the decay used various tools — from fraud accusations. Its original newspaper La Nación once
sengers, turns on a micro- of a university considered a physical harassment and owners fled the country after printed more than 30 pages
phone and speaker, and World Heritage Site and the detention of journalists to several legal proceedings were every day and won national
delivers the news while effects of the country’s hy- the use of the courts against launched against them, some journalism awards.
a colleague holds a black perinflation. media outlets — to make linked to other commercial
cardboard frame around the space for critical media activities. They maintained Its head, Omaira Labrador,
his face to mimic a televi- Journalists are also giving free smaller. they had not committed any recalled that area residents
sion screen. newspapers to bus passengers crimes and were being pros- used to call the newspaper
and people at bus stops, and “And all of this ultimately ecuted because Globovisión because local leaders would
“Good morning! This is encouraging them to share contributes to this overall had been critical of Maduro. react to stories and address
the newscast of El Bus TV the papers with others. Other goal of trying to control in- citizens’ complaints. There
Capitolio,” he reads from his journalists are walking into formation, trying to control Daniela Alvarado, coordina- were classified ads and dur-
script to the passengers, most neighborhoods and reading the narrative both within and tor of information freedom ing elections, the newspaper
of whom listen carefully the news to people gathered outside of the country,” said atVenezuela’s independent would be a lot thicker.
while others brush past him around them or listening Southwick. “And that’s why Press and Society Institute,
to get on or off at their stops. from their windows. we see people from (Presi- said the use of alternative But today, the pandemic,
The news he delivers is not dent Recep) Erdogan in Tur- ways to report news “has shortages of newsprint and
always flattering to Venezu- Since President Nicolás key to someone like Maduro been the positive side of the fuel and far fewer classified
ela’s socialist government. Maduro took office in 2013, in Venezuela really targeting terrible consequences for ads have reduced the news-
more than 60 news outlets the independent press. They journalism in the country, paper in the state of Táchira
That rudimentary news de- have closed, some of them know that that reporting pos- censorship and the precari- to less than 15 pages and only
livery system is one of several burdened by multimillion- es a threat to their ability to ous conditions that are cur- four editions a week.
ways journalists are fighting dollar fines imposed by a control what people hear and rently being experienced.”
to preserve press freedom in government telecommuni- how they make decisions.” Labrador said the displace-
the South American nation. cations commission that ac- “It is very important to high- ment of newspapers by on-
Media in Venezuela, like in cused them of promoting ha- A court in May seized the light the work these journal- line outlets and social net-
other countries, have been tred and destabilization of the Caracas headquarters of the ists, these media, are doing works has also affected La
struggling to stay afloat, but government. newspaper El Nacional, an to seek new ways to reach Nación, but while the news-
their difficulty is not just outlet critical of Maduro audiences and to not only paper has a website, people in
dwindling advertising rev- Maduro’s actions against the and his closest collaborators. think of audiences as some- rural communities prefer to
enue. press, which he accuses of The action was the result of thing massive, as something get their news in print.
conspiring against his gov- a defamation lawsuit filed by of a national scope, but to
They face mounting pres- ernment and spreading false the vice president of the rul- start locally with journalism Last year, she formed an al-
sures from a government information, are an extension ing party, Diosdado Cabello, that prioritizes the needs of liance with other media out-
trying to control the flow of of the tactics deployed by and sought to guarantee a neighbors,” said Alvarado, lets, and since December
news, including fines over his predecessor and mentor, multimillion-dollar payment whose organization moni- they have produced a news-
criticism of officials and bar- Hugo Chávez, who called in- in damages. tors violations of the rights of cast aired by various radio
riers to purchase of news- dependent media an enemy journalists. stations. The goal, she said,
print. This has left millions after taking office in 1999. That same month, the news- is to “fulfill the social mission
with access to information paper El Tiempo de Anzo- The hostility toward the of all media” to keep people
largely through state media. Natalie Southwick, Latin átegui, in the country’s north- press comes as Venezuela’s informed.
America and Caribbean east, stopped printing but political, social and eco-
“This newscast is a way to program coordinator at the kept its digital edition. The nomic crises, attributed to “By radio, by press, by tele-
overcome censorship and Committee to Protect Jour- nongovernmental organiza- plummeting oil prices and vision, but let yourself be in-
misinformation in Venezue- nalists, said Venezuela is one tion Espacio Público, which two decades of government formed,” she said.