A team of television journalists from Globovisión in Venezuela was threatened while covering attacks by supporters of President Hugo Hugo Chavez against opposition candidate Henrique Caprilles Radonski in Cotiza, a neighborhood in the capital city of Caracas, according to Globovisión.
As presidential elections in Venezuela approach, President Hugo Chavez on Saturday, March 24, criticized the alleged assaults on journalists of the state-run National System of Public Media committed by supporters of the opposition, according to the website for the Venezuelan National Assembly.
On Friday, Feb. 17, a Venezuelan court began hearing the appeal of Globovisión to overturn a $2.1 million fine, according to the newspaper El Diario. The Globovisión television news agency has been critical of Hugo Chavez's government, and the fine was levied against the station in October of 2011 for its reporting.
Venezuelan sports journalist Walter Obregón denounced on Twitter that he was threatened by Zamora Football Club fans on Friday, Feb. 15, in the Venezuelan state of Barinas, reported the NGO Espacio Público.
A reporting crew from the Venezuelan newspaper Últimas Notícias was detained by the Bolivarian Militia in a hospital in the capital, Caracas, on Feb. 8, reported the website Clases de Periodismo.
On the morning of Feb. 3, mourners attacked journalists covering the burial of Anabel Arguello, a Venezuelan girl killed in a skirmish in the western city of Maracaibo, reported the website NotiZulia.
The Venezuelan hacker group N33 took over the Twitter accounts of two journalists critical of President Hugo Chávez, reported the weekly magazine Sexto Poder. The group is also responsible for other cyber attacks against opposition members, and is considered a growing threat to freedom of expression in the South American country.
A news team for the Venezuelan television broadcaster Globovisión was detained by the country's Bolivarian National Guard as they tried to cover an oil spill in the community of Pararí, in the state of Monagas, reported the International Freedom of Expression Exchange on Jan. 27.
A reporting team for the Venezuelan television broadcaster RCTV was attacked at the Central University of Venezuela's (UCV in Spanish) communications school while covering violence that erupted after the release of student election results on Jan. 18, reported the organization Public Space.
Human Rights Watch's 2012 World Report, released on Jan. 22, 2012, accuses the Venezuelan government of trying to control independent media and the judiciary in order to silence opposition voices, reported the website Uol.
Despite the Internet's essential role in journalism today, few reporters take the issue of cyber security seriously. Recent cyber attacks on journalists in Venezuela reinforce the fact that the Internet is not without its risks.
President Hugo Chávez's aggressive stance against the media in Venezuela has been characterized as "totalitarian and dictatorial" by the Inter American Press Association, which considers freedom of expression under threat in the South American country.