Analysis: Media Watch

Nate Silver, who became famous for his use of polling data to accurately project U.S. elections, launched a new blog – FiveThirtyEight.com last month.  It’s been off to a rough start, Paul Krugman wrote soon after its launch, “[S]loppy and casual opining with a bit of data used, as the old saying goes, the way a drunkard uses a lamppost — for support, not illumination.” I leave it to the reader to decide whether the FiveThirtyEight article on March 17 by Dorothy Kronick on Venezuela fits this description.

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About 40 people have died in connection with opposition protests, street barricades and unrest which have been occurring since early February in Venezuela. An examination of the fatalities suggests some of the following conclusions.

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I sometimes complain about U.S. media coverage of Venezuela, which is mostly one-sided and sometimes terribly inaccurate. But compared to most of the Latin American media, U.S. reporting is practically “fair and balanced.” 

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Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has an op-ed in theNew York Times today (3/26/14). Given that he is currently being held in a military prison, the piece is notable. But the most revealing part might be a correction that appears at the end.

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In a recent article Amnesty International accused the Venezuelan government of a “witch hunt” when opposition mayor, Daniel Ceballos was arrested. However, Amnesty has yet to use such strong language against the five weeks of human rights violations people in Venezuela have suffered at the hands of violent opposition sectors. The “witch hunt” term demonises the people’s right to bring such criminals to justice.

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Venezuelanlysis.com publishes a concise study of the fatalities, wounded and damages caused in the last month of political violence. The findings suggest that the narrative used to explain the violence in most mainstream media outlets is either uninformed or deliberately misleading.

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Solidarity organisations have issued various statements demanding media accuracy on the opposition protests and violence being experienced in Venezuela.

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