With a total of 579 violations and 350 cases, 2014 was the “worst year” on record in terms “guarantees to the human right to freedom of expression” in Venezuela, according to non-governmental organization Espacio Público. The number of violations and cases, they said, are the highest they have been in the past 20 years.
In a hearing before the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), a group of Venezuelan journalists, union members, and local NGOs have firmly denounced ongoing censorship of the press in Venezuela.
Increasing pressure on traditional media in Venezuela over recent years has forced journalists critical of the government to move online in search of refuge. The transition has spurred the creation of several small publications online and has changed the way that Venezuelans, especially those critical of the government, share and receive information.
The newspaper industry may be declining, but its number of Twitter followers is not. Among top newspapers in Latin America, Venezuelan and Colombian publications claim the most Twitter followers, according to our recent survey, which included a sample of leading newspapers across the region.
The Organization of American States' special rapporteur for Freedom of Expression released a statement in which it “express[ed] its deepest concern for the deterioration of the right to freedom of expression in Venezuela.”
Venezuela’s oldest daily newspaper, El Impulso, is the latest publication to narrowly avert a shutdown amid an ongoing newsprint (paper) shortage that has affected nearly 40 newspapers and magazines across the country over the past year.
A leading Venezuelan newspaper that was recently sold to anonymous investors appears to be shifting its opposition editorial line weeks after pledging not to. The managing editor at El Universal, Elides Rojas, told the International Press Institute (IPI) that the newspaper’s new president had “ordered a complete revision of the opinion section” and had suspended or dismissed editorial staff.
Private news enterprises have weathered a long history of crippling attacks from the Venezuelan government. Some media owners are now giving up and selling their properties.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) called on the Inter American Court of Human Rights to sentence the Venezuelan government for having unlawfully shut down TV network RCTV in 2007.
On World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on May 3, Venezuela’s Press and Society Institute (IPYS) launched a new chapter of the digital platform Poderopedia, which helps visualize the connections that exist between powerful people in the country, the organization reported. The platform collects and charts information about political and business leaders in the nation, revealing conflicts of interest, spheres of influence and other connections.
Venezuelan newspaper El Universal declared itself in a state of emergency on Monday May 5 due to a lack of newsprint, saying their current inventory would allow them to publish for two more weeks at the most, according to a statement by the paper. El Universal will need to cut down its print edition to two sections of eight pages each, with the rest of the content published online.
With the purpose of bypassing the censorship and self-censorship that ail Venezuelan news outlets since the country's mass protests began in February this year, a group of Latin American journalists developed a new site that taps into social media to inform about the crisis.