Latin America's Al Jazeera

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

The populist Chavez government wants Telesur to be viewed as an 'alternative' media source, despite its government sponsorship and corporate backing. 'Instead of having 500 or 900 small alternative media outlets, there will be one grand conglomerate -- with capital,' says Telesur general director Aram Aharonian. 'Telesur will follow the same premises that for decades took refuge in small alternative and community media.'

Telesur also hopes to capitalize directly on the quality and uniqueness of true independents. 'We want to have a network of journalistic collaborators,' Aharonian says. 'We want to contract independent media that have outstanding editorial lines.'

While freedom of speech has been a guaranteed right in Venezuela for decades, two wealthy families with anti-Chavez leanings own the majority of the country's media outlets. What's more, Venezuela's more affluent citizens dislike Chavez's staunch populism and helped instigate a failed coup in 2002, which, some in the president's camp believe, was quietly backed by the United States. Given these political circumstances, Chavez's enthusiasm for Telesur could be seen as self-serving. Critics of the new network have already started calling it TeleChavez.

At press time, Telesur had yet to hit the airwaves, and various start dates, from midsummer to year's end, were being bandied about. So whether the network will become a true alternative media source or a propaganda machine remains to be seen. Regardless of the network's content, though, it's sure to have a closely watched premiere.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print