SWOPblogger

If you watch American news programs, you’d never know that the denial of a renewal license for Venezuelan television station RCTV to use the public airwaves is perfectly justifiable and legal within the democratic political system of that country.

You also would not realize that the denial of the license does not “shut down” RCTV. In fact, the station can continue to broadcast on satellite, cable, and internet stations. You would also not know that Venezuelan media is dominated by private news print, television, and radio outlets that are virulently opposed to the government. In other words, the media climate in that country is completely “free” and remains so despite incredible media hostility directed toward Hugo Chavez for years.

Thankfully, we have some media analysis help from our friends at FAIR, detailing the bias on this topic within American media, as well as a history of RCTV’s coup mongering. RCTV, in fact, was an active participant in the failed coup that briefly removed Chavez from power in 2002, and the station went on to encourage a shut down of government in the so-called “business strike” the following year.

Now, imagine if you were watching NBC, ABC, or CBS and newscasters began openly calling for the military overthrow of George Bush during a period in which it seemed like a real possibility. Imagine that you are in an (imaginary) world in which Bush was elected overwhelmingly more than once to the presidency, and a small group including one of these big news stations successfully plotted his overthrow. Then, imagine that when the majority of the population successfully prevailed and reinstated the president, this station decided to air movies and cartoons instead of covering the democratically elected president’s return to his legitimate office. This is exactly what RCTV did. Do you really think our government…that “we” in fact…would let that station continue to use our public airwaves, much less for another five years? No, in this country it would immediately be branded as Treason.

So why doesn’t the American media cover this story in an objective fashion? I could answer it for you but I’d rather hear what you have to say.

But lets’ be clear: the administration of Hugo Chavez is supported by a big majority of the Venezuelan population. We call that “Democracy.” Therefore, the denial of a renewed license for RCTV to use the public airwaves is endorsed by a big majority of the Venezuelan population, despite what the other private media in that country or in ours wants us to believe.

We call this “Democracy.” So, do we believe in democracy? I do, even if I don’t always agree with the actions of my government. Additionally, the denial is perfectly legal within the framework of the Venezuelan system of government, following rules that were in place before Hugo Chavez came to power. We can debate whether or not we think they have a good system in place, but its irresponsible in today’s climate to unjustifiably brand Hugo Chavez a dictator. It simply isn’t true.

-Marjorie

Labels: Hugo Chavez, Public News Networks, RCTV, Venezuela