By Samantha Badgen
The Venezuelan TV network Globovisión put an end this week to their partnership with Colombian conglomerate RCN Televisión. The reasons behind the rupture were not specified but in the last two months the differences between the editorial lines of both media groups have grown.
In February, international TV channel NTN24 -- which belongs to RCN -- was taken off the air because of its coverage of the protests. Globovisión used to be critical of the government until it was sold in May to buyers with close ties to the ruling party.
According to the press release published by NTN24 on Mar. 18, Globovisión's new directors suspended the decade-old alliance with RCN through which both networks exchanged coverage and shared facilities. NTN24 transmitted through Globovisión’s headquarters.
NTN24 was one of the few channels to cover in detail the protests in Venezuela. Despite the sudden suspension of their signal, NTN24 has continued reporting through its website and social media accounts.
Claudia Gurisatti, General Director of NTN24, said the channel will continue with their coverage despite the rupture with Globovisión.
“Even though they are now asking us to remove all RCN and NTN24 personnel and equipment from Globovision’s headquarters, we’ll continue with our mission to inform Venezuelans and every Latin American in the hemisphere and Europe about the realities of their nations,” said Claudia Gurisatti, general director of NTN24, in the press release.
NTN24 continues having a harsh attitude towards the state, even after the abrupt suspension of their signal while they broadcasted the protests. The Colombian channel continued informing about the situation in Venezuela through online websites and their social media networks.
In an interview with NTN24’s program La Tarde, former vice president of Globovisión María Fernanda Flores, spoke about the government censorship during the protests and clashes and lamented that there are still media outlets that have preferred.
“Venezuela has been very, very blinded because now there are no live and direct coverage of what is happening in the country,” Flores said.
According to the Venezuelan newspaper El Mundo, RCN has been exploring new partners in order to keep reporting from Venezuela, and among their options are El Nacional and El Universal.
"In this type of alliance what we search for is an agreement with an information channel in the country that will allow us to fulfill the needs in that country," said Gabriel Reyes, president of Canal RCN.
According to Gurisatti, general director of NTN24, the main motive to stay in the Venezuelan market is journalistic, because the critical situation of the press in that country.
"Our correspondents will continue with their resources and we've hired a new reporting team," she said. "In a month we will also build a new newsroom exclusively for web production in Venezuela. We're exploring written media because they are finding other ways to get their content out due to the paper shortage."
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.
