VenezuelaMedia

Freedom of the media is one of the most important elements of a successful democracy. In simple terms, a democracy is a political system that allows its citizens to make informed decisions regarding the type of leaders, institutions, laws and regulations in their society. Consequently the media, as the main source of information in society, plays a crucial role by shaping the opinions and perceptions of the citizenry. Therefore, for citizens to make informed and rational decisions, the media should be as independent, objective and diverse as possible.

Any attempt by any governments to influence, coerce or censor the media should be highly criticized. The actions against the newspaper El Nacional in Venezuela this last Monday should be of great concern for Venezuelans and for those concerned on the development of democracy in the region. After Chavez strongly criticized El Nacional newspaper on Sunday (1/6/02) a mass of Chavez supporters protested outside the newspaper's headquarters on Monday night (1/8/02) threatening to burn the office building and demanding that the newspaper refrain from printing reports critical of the government. This could not be considered anything less than a strategic plan by the government to intimidate the newspaper.

In Venezuela, Chavez' actions and intimidations against the media are inexcusable and clearly a result of his authoritarian nature. However, the truth is that in many Latin American countries the media is not as 'innocent' as we would like to think. What I mean is that media in Latin America can sometimes play a destructive role in democracy by fomenting social instability. In Latin American countries with a small elite class most of the media outlets are own by a small economic elite with strong ties to the political sector. Based on their disapproval of government economic policies, or their own political aspirations, they can use their media machine to undertake a campaign of propaganda attack against the government; taking refuge under the outcry of international and domestic organizations that demand freedom of the media. In these conditions, governments are severely restrained from instituting any form of public policy that may threaten the elite class. Governments get caught between appearing anti-democratic or allowing social anti-government propaganda to create social opposition.

What is the solution? Well, I am not at all justifying media censorship by the government but in general I strongly believe that media should be held accountable for misinformation and propaganda. It is clear that a better legal framework and the development of a code of ethics can greatly improve the situation; and in specific circumstances, the decentralization of the media sector can be significantly important.

Links:

Inter-American Press Association http://www.sipiapa.org/
Committee to Protect Journalist - http://www.cpj.org/
Freedom Forum - http://www.freedomforum.org