Analysis: Media Watch

Media & Opposition: False Perceptions of Venezuela’s Democracy

By Rachael Boothroyd - Correo del Orinoco International , May 25th 2012

Venezuela’s Barrio Adentro health program provides free healthcare to Venezuela’s poor, and free, community based training f

Earlier this week Al Jazeera English published an article by Nikolas Kozloff. The focus of Kozloff’s latest article was the Cuban-Venezuelan “Barrio Adentro” initiative, a social mission which provides free healthcare to Venezuela’s poor, and free, community based training for Venezuelan medical students.

Grassroots Media in Contemporary Venezuela: The Battle of the CPC (Centro de Poder Communal)

By Robin Garcia, May 17th 2012

(Patriagrande)

International presses often criticize the Venezuelan government on issues around the freedom of the press, however, Venezuela has democratized its media outlets so that all communities can enjoy their right to freedom of speech. In this respect, Venezuela is far ahead of most nations when it comes to promoting free and accessible media.

CNN: The Latest Outlet for Roger Noriega’s Paranoid Speculations

By Keane Bhatt - Nacla, May 15th 2012

On May 2, CNN executive producer Arthur Brice published a 4,300-word screed, titled “Chavez Health Problems Plunge Venezuela’s Future Into Doubt,” little more than a platform for the bizarre theories of Roger Noriega, a diplomat under George W. Bush.

Capriles, Homophobia, Anti-Semitism and Systemic Violence: Understanding the Venezuelan Elections

By Rachael Boothroyd, Venezuelanalysis.com, Apr 5th 2012

Anti-Chavez Venezuelan media quickly latched onto the Western media line about a state campaign of “persecution” against opp

With the Venezuelan elections now looming, and with Chavez’s approval ratings stubbornly hovering around the 57% mark, it would seem that the international media has stepped up its “disinformation” campaign against the Bolivarian revolution with renewed urgency, producing the kind of biased, baseless and manipulative stories about the “persecution” of opposition presidential candidate, Capriles Radonski, that have been filling the corporate press’ Latin American correspondence pages for weeks.

Hollywood Attacks Hugo Chavez

By Razio Cazal, Ciudad CCS / Alba Ciudad, Mar 30th 2012

The scene portrayes Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as an example of a "dangerous dictator". (Alba Cuidad)

Venezuelan writer Razio Cazal explores a scene contained within the first minute of new Hollywood film “We Bought a Zoo” which portrayes Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as a “dangerous dictator”.

NYT Meets Venezuelan Opposition, and Smiles

By Gregory Wilpert - NY Times Examiner, Feb 21st 2012

El Sistema (agencies).

It would seem that the New York Times has run out of substantive issues with which to present Venezuela in a negative light and has now decided to focus instead on a rather silly effort to tarnish Venezuela’s world-renown and highly acclaimed classical music education program known as “El Sistema”.

13 Years of BBC Reporting on Venezuela's Hugo Chavez

By News Unspun, Feb 14th 2012

New Unspun investigate the BBC's coverage of Venezuela, including how regularly President Hugo Chavez is referred to as a democratically elected president compared to how often words depicting the president as autocratic or dictatorial have appeared.

In Defence of Rory Carroll and Venezuela's Persecuted Elite

By Rachael Boothroyd - Venezuelanalysis.com, Feb 1st 2012

The government's Mercal markets have helped reduce infant malnutrition by 58% and boost food consumption in Venezuela over

Even in a regulated economy such as Venezuela, financial traders and the commercial elite, the same bourgeoisie which Carroll continues to cite as a reliable source on all things Venezuelan at the expense of engaging with ordinary citizens, have found a way of speculating and exploiting the economic situation whilst giving the proverbial finger to the majority of Venezuelans and the national government.

Venezuela in the UK Media, Part 2: Business Interests and the Refining of the Media Campaign

By News Unspun, Jan 15th 2012

Since the early days of the presidency, the adversarial position of the media, both within Venezuela and abroad, has evolved to become less overt. Reference is no longer made to a 'dictatorship'; it seems that this battle has, for the most part, been lost. Instead, we now see an apparent balance which presents the views of both supporters and opponents...

Iran and Venezuela Have More in Common than the West Thinks

By Hugh O'Shaughnessy, The Guardian UK, Jan 12th 2012

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (Prensa Presidencial).

The arrival of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Sunday was an interesting but minor item in the process of what has become known as "south-south relations". It will strengthen western myth-makers – the same ones who brought us Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction – on the story of Venezuela as a modern day Cave of the 40 Thieves with Hugo Chávez cast as the wicked and wily Ali Baba.

Venezuela in the UK Media, Part 1: The Opposition and US Interference

By News Unspun, Jan 10th 2012

"One of the most visible, vocal and controversial leaders in Latin America" (according to the BBC), Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez receives much attention from the British media. Frequent news reports, alluding to government 'attacks' on democracy and press freedom, and discussing the nationalisation of assets, create an impression of a 'regime' which asserts too much power.

Dangerous lies: US Media Outlet Falsely Accuses Venezuela of Terrorist Plot

By Correo del Orinoco International, Dec 16th 2011

This week Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on friends and allies to “be attentive” after mainstream media outlets in the United States released uncorroborated evidence accusing Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran of holding “secret meetings” in Mexico to plan terrorist attacks against “US interests”.

Corporate Media Press Group Attacks Venezuela

By Correo del Orinoco International , Oct 30th 2011

Corporate media networks and their owners in the Americas issued fresh attacks against Venezuela last week during a meeting of the US-based Inter-American Press Association (IAPA).

Revolutionary Vignettes. Part 3: Chirino and Chomsky, Ultraleft and Bourgeois Critics of the Bolivarian Revolution

By Jorge Martín - In Defence of Marxism, Aug 26th 2011

While I was in Venezuela a number of comrades asked me about some manifesto against “Chavez's attacks on trade union rights” and also about the controversy over a letter Noam Chomsky had signed which the bourgeois media had used in their campaign in defence of “human rights” in Venezuela.

Venezuelan TV Host Mario Silva Responds to The Economist’s False Accusations

By Mario Silva - The Razorblade, Aug 18th 2011

In this open letter to The Economist, Venezuela's Mario Silva responds to a recently published article that included numerous personal and professional attacks on Silva's work as a leftist political commentator and news analyst.