Analysis: Media Watch

Eduardo Galeano Speaks on the Venezuelan Media

By Radio Nacional de Venezuela, Aug 3rd 2011

In this interview excerpt, Eduardo Galeano explains why he has described Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez as a “strange dictator”, recounting his own experience as an election observer in Venezuela and describing the political role played by the opposition media in Venezuela.

Letter to the Guardian Regarding its Venezuela Coverage

By Various, Aug 1st 2011

A letter to the Guardian criticising its coverage of Venezuela, specifically its lack of articles on the assasination of Venezuelan farmers, while instead it covers stories such as the possiblity of Chavez going bald.

Venezuela: Chavez Illness Sparks Media, Opposition Frenzy

By Federico Fuentes, Green Left Weekly, Jul 11th 2011

No sooner had information come out that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was undergoing surgery in Cuba than the international media was full of speculation and rumours regarding his imminent demise.

Reality and Virtual Reality: Venezuela's Bicentennial and the Corporate Media

By Rachael Boothroyd - Venezuelanalysis.com, Jul 7th 2011

Yesterday Venezuela celebrated 200 years since it became officially free from Spanish colonialism. A fairly momentous occasion, no doubt of great significance for people’s emancipatory struggles everywhere...Yet, according to Fox news, the BBC, the Washington post, and other equally scarcely illuminating news sources, Tuesday’s events were of little importance.

Rory Rory Jackanory: The Guardian's Latest Chomsky Smear

By Samuel Grove/Alborada.net, Jul 6th 2011

Surely, for the sake of the Guardian's credibility, now is the time to relieve Rory Carroll, the Guardian's South America editor, of his duties and let him do what he does best; composing 'advertisement features' for the tourist board of the country with the worst human rights record in the hemisphere.

Chomsky Says UK Guardian Article "Quite Deceptive" about his Chavez Criticism

By Joe Emersberger - Znet, Jul 4th 2011

There was no missing the glee with which Rory Carroll reported in the UK Guardian that "speaking to the Observer last week, Chomsky has accused the socialist leader [Hugo Chavez] of amassing too much power and of making an 'assault' on Venezuela's democracy."

President Chavez's Address to the Nation, 30 June 2011

By Hugo Chavez, Jul 1st 2011

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on national television 30 June 2011 (Photo: Agencies).

On Thursday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spoke to the Venezuelan people live on national television, referring to recent health issues he has faced, including a cancerous tumor succesfully removed by medical professionals in Havana, Cuba.

Roger Noriega’s Secret Pact with Hugo Chávez

By Belén Fernández - Pulse, Jun 6th 2011

Fernández sarcastically examines the ridiculous accusations of an alliance between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Lobo of Honduras made by US conservative Roger Noriega.

The FARC Files: Iraq "Dodgy Dossier" Authors Strike Again

By Francisco Dominguez - New Statesman, May 13th 2011

A report launched this week risks repeating the mistake of the dodgy dossier that justified war on Iraq. Launched by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) the dossier claims that it "looks in detail" at the Colombian guerrilla group Farc's "relations with Venezuela and Ecuador" by assessing files allegedly found on computers seized by the Colombian government from Farc in 2008.

What the FARC Files Really Reveal

By Greg Grandin & Miguel Salas - The Guardian, May 12th 2011

Greg Grandin and Miguel Tinker Salas analyze the attempt by conservative thinktank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) to reheat widely discredited Colombian military claims about ties between Colombia's FARC rebels and the Chavez government, calling it "pure black propaganda."

Using the University Law to Attack Venezuela

By Mike Cole, Peter McLaren - University World News, Feb 21st 2011

Orlando Albornoz and Ricardo Flores use the rescinding of the Ley de Educacíon Universiteria (LEU) by Hugo Chávez as an excuse to launch yet another attack on Venezuela's president, claiming that the man whose first major undertaking after being elected was to have the people rewrite the constitution is undemocratic.

Why is Hugo Chavez called a Dictator?

By John E. Jones , Jan 31st 2011

Hugo Chavez is the most controversial head of state in the world and also the most maligned. Often accused of being a dictator by international press, however, it seems unlikely that a would be dictator’s first major undertaking after being elected would be to have the people rewrite the constitution, replacing one written by elites.

Interview: Author & Media Activist McCraw says VA an "Invaluable Resource"

By Juan Reardon - Venezuelanalysis.com, Jan 21st 2011

VA produces original daily news written by well-informed writers with substantial experience living in Venezuela and working wit

"Venezuelaanalysis.com (VA) plays a unique role in fostering an online presence in which a deeper level of discussion is expected and delivered. While more casual forms of media become increasingly common, in-depth thoughtful journalism becomes increasingly more important. Well-researched and documented articles written in English about Venezuela are few and far between and should be considered invaluable as a resource."

From Tucson to Venezuela: Using the Banner of “Free Expression” to Spread Hate

By Edward Ellis - Correo del Orinoco International, Jan 20th 2011

From the terrorist lynchings carried out by the Ku Klux Klan to the more recent “hate crimes” perpetrated against non-white, nonstraight, immigrant communities across the US, violence has been the palpable result of a coordinated campaign of bigotry and fear that has been the mainstay of right-wing media discourse for decades. Venezuela, by way of comparison, has also been no stranger to political violence.

"Venezuela Says Oil Reserves Surpass Saudi Arabia's" an example of Reuters' Twisted Journalism

By Les Blough - Axis of Logic, Jan 20th 2011

In the Reuters report republished in full below, the corporate media (CNBC/Reuters) overstepped itself - again - taking every conceivable opportunity to attack President Chávez in what should have been a simple, straight-forward news bulletin.