FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS - International Press Institute

While shutting down privately-owned TV
and radio stations, the Venezuelan president
created state-owned media for the
sole purpose of distributing propaganda,
and bought former private media companies
to further propagate his message. He
also created laws primarily aimed at controlling
content. The attempt to control the
media is also apparent in his careful distribution
of state-paid advertising, his manipulation
of the court system where he
has false cases brought against journalists
and his attempts at bribing the media, according
to Ricardo Trotti, director of IAPA’s
Press Institute.
In April 2010, the Venezuelan government
created what it called the “communication
guerrilla movement” with school students,
who were sworn in by the communication
minister. The government idea was to resist
"the numerous attacks against the Revolución
Bolivariana”, and to foster “a new way
to see the world through socialism". The
communication minister spoke of “companies
that have interests behind them, and
pre-established ideologies, that have political
intentions and are harassing the Revolución
Bolivariana”.
It is clear that “the lack of safety and impunity,
violations of the rule of law, government
policies of persecution, discrimination,
exclusion and harassment, along
with the serious deterioration in the social
ambience” have made it difficult for
Venezuelan journalists to work freely, and
for Venezuelan citizens to be able to hear
different views.
The role played by Venezuela in international
politics is having strongly negative
effects on press freedom in other countries,
particularly those belonging to
ALBA (an international political alliance
including Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia,
Cuba, The Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and Grenadine
and Venezuela). Trotti, of IAPA, said that
Chávez might have concrete intentions of
transforming the regional scene by using
the obstruction of press freedom and expression
as one of his tools: “ALBA members,
in fact, have a common plan to control
communications,” Trotti said.
In Bolivia, the press has reacted to the apparent
attempts to curb media freedom. In
one action, all Bolivian newspapers except
one published the message “Without freedom
of expression there is no democracy”.
Also, several journalists went on a hunger
strike that lasted several days. The response
from the government has yet to be seen.
In Ecuador the situation is worsening. The
president has publicly said that the government
“unfortunately” does not control
all of the media, while harassment of the
media continues in various forms – including
public statements by the president
- and the use of state advertising to
either punish or bolster certain media. For
example, the newspaper Hoy, based in
Quito, received, in writing, information
regarding an official ban on advertising in
Hoy by all public companies and government
entities. The ban was allegedly ordered
directly by the secretary of communication
of the presidency.
The national assembly is currently studying
a communications law that regulates
not only state-licensed media (radio and
TV) but also print media.
There is also the case of Argentina, where
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
strongly supported a Law of Services of
Audio-visual Communication, which replaced
the Media Law created during the
last military dictatorship (1976-1983). This
law imposes limits on media property, forcing
some media holdings to reduce their
number of business units and preventing
others from growing. This law was approved
as the confrontation between the
media and the government intensified,
straining the social and political climate
within the country.
The new law remains controversial, as
some media regard it as a direct attack on
press freedom, while others welcome it as
support for new or smaller media seeking
a broader following. There are, though,
clear and serious press freedom setbacks.
Discrimination in government advertising
and attacks on media holdings by different
sectors (unions and political groups claiming
to be close to the current government)
are far from positive signs. “Nonetheless,
the communications media have not been
distracted from their mission of defending
freedom of expression and promoting a climate
that fosters the harmonious development
of a society in conflict and its co-existence
with an independent press”, the
2010 IAPA report stated.
Societies in these countries may be on their
way to losing respect for the media as a social
institution. Government accusations
against the media are producing grave
harm: not only are these countries not enjoying
the benefits of a free press, but there
are also terrible long-term consequences
for the notion that a free press is crucial.
Societies are divided: Who to trust? The
politicians for whom they have voted, or
the media by which they are informed.
IPI Contributor
Patricia Santa Marina is former corporate affairs Director
of Grupo Infobae (from 2003 - 2010), which
includes Canal 5 Noticias (C5N), a cable news
channel, Infobae.com, a news website, and Radio
10. Patricia Santa Marina studied political science
at Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina ‘Santa
María de los Buenos Aires’ (1992-98) and political
economics at the London School of Economics and
Political Science. She is a member of the board of
directors for IPI.
Caribbean Overview: Media
Struggles with Defamation
Laws, Economic Challenges
By Wesley Gibbings
Challenges to press freedom in
countries of the Caribbean span a complex
variety of direct and insidious phenomena.
These include overt state hostility toward
media enterprises, a heritage of restrictive
legislative environments, the commandeering
of content by commercial and special interest
groups, and the corrosive effects of systemic
self-censorship. Accidents of history,
size and geographical location are often cited
as proximate cause and, in many instances,
the pursuit of development in the face of social
and economic challenges emerges as a
default defense for the derogation of free expression
and freedom of the press.
For the most part, the tiny
British and Dutch dependencies
and semi-autonomous
states constitute relatively
small media environments
with heavy reliance on overseas
content. The French Departments
of Martinique
and Guadeloupe provide a more vibrant
private media landscape governed by
French media law. Dutch law likewise governs
media law in the Netherlands Antilles.
With the exception of Anguilla, Bermuda,
British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands,
Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands and
U.S. Virgin Islands, the other small Englishspeaking
Caribbean islands are all independent
states with their own media laws.
Skirmishes involving the media and island
authorities are occasionally reported in
Bermuda and Cayman Islands. Recurring
issues include the allocation of state advertising,
media self-regulation, self-censorship
to preserve advertising revenue and
claims of political bias.
In many countries, the work of government
ghost writers is often published in
newspapers with close ties to ruling administrations,
in order to provide “balance”
to “negative” news stories in other media.
This often leads to the publication of divisive
and vitriolic charges against media
people, which sometimes achieves the objective
of stirring up hostility among their
supporters against journalists. In December,
Grenada Prime Minister Tillman
Thomas described a blog column written
by journalist Hamlet Mark as being “dangerous
to Grenada.” The Media Workers Association
of Grenada (MWAG) roundly
condemned the remark.
In many countries, the work of government
ghost writers is often published
in newspapers with close ties
to ruling administrations.
In some countries, broadcast licenses are
also dispensed to political allies of ruling
administrations who maintain a partisan
front to the detriment of professional journalism.
In the absence of strong, independent
civil society interventions, the result is
a deafening silence on corruption, good
governance and justice issues.
Serious journalistic investigations into
weighty issues are also often described as
giving the country a bad name and trying
to undermine tourism and investments.
In Trinidad and Tobago, a journalist,
Kevin Baldeosingh, was fired by Newsday
newspaper in May 2009 after exposing acts
of plagiarism on the part of a Catholic
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