Venezuelan activists and journalists have come together to demand increased pluralism in the state-run media, free access to public information, and for the government to return confiscated radio and TV stations to their original owners, El Nacional reports.
The president of the National Journalists’ Guild (CNP), Silvia Alegrett, announced that 14 groups, including the CNP, the National Press Workers’ Syndicate, and the Espacio Público (Public Space) human rights organization, have joined to form the Alliance for Freedom of Expression, Infobae and 2001.com explain.
Among the Alliances demands are for President Hugo Chávez to speak less on broadcast TV networks and for the government to change the recently passed laws for “social responsibility” in the media, which the unions call “undemocratic and unconstitutional.”
Chávez’s government continues to have a tense relationship with the press. According to El Universal, over the last eight years there were 1,777 freedom of expression violations, including eight deaths and the closure of 34 radio stations and three TV networks.
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Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
