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Venezuela The Mass Media
The country's first newspaper, the Gaceta de
Caracas,
appeared in 1808, shortly after the arrival of the first
printing
press and just before the war of independence. The
Gaceta de
Caracas, published by a small group of young
intellectuals
who advocated a complete break with Spain, presented
lively and
well-informed discussions of the new political theories
emanating
from Europe as well as of local news. Around the time of
independence and shortly thereafter, a number of
newspapers
appeared in Caracas, and by 1821 the Correo
Nacional was
being published in Zulia.
These papers emphasized serious political discussions,
establishing a tradition that continued during the
ConservativeLiberal controversies of the mid-nineteenth century. The
literate
population of the time, however, was small. With extremely
limited readership and often extremely small budgets, many
of
these newspapers disappeared after a few initial,
enthusiastic
issues. An exception was La Religión, founded in
1890 and
still published in 1990.
From early on, Caracas was the undisputed center of
influence
and the home base of the most significant newspapers.
Maracaibo
was a strong center for publication of newspapers, but
their
circulation and impact were still regional in scope.
Whether in
Caracas, Maracaibo, or the provinces, newspapers depended
heavily
on direct and indirect government and/or partisan
subsidies.
Government advertising, in addition, represented a
substantial
part of the papers' income.
Only a few families owned and controlled the largest
dailies.
Family members usually held top administrative positions
and
often contributed articles. Perhaps the most prominent of
these
families were the Capriles, who owned a chain of morning
and
afternoon dailies, in addition to magazines and radio and
television interests.
All the major parties maintained official party
newspapers,
most of them weeklies. Some parties, especially those of
the
extreme right and extreme left, published newspapers
without
necessarily identifying their true ownership and control.
Organized labor, business, and other major political and
economic
groups all traditionally produced their own weekly or
monthly
publications.
Most observers agreed that the Venezuelan media were
often
sensationalist, and that they exhibited a healthy dose of
skepticism toward grandiose government plans. Newspapers
and
journalists assiduously pursued corruption stories and
exposed
cases of unbridled nepotism, corruption, and incompetence.
Venezuela's press was subject to censorship in times of
emergency
but was otherwise among the freest in Latin America. About
the
only consistent taboo was the publication of cartoons or
other
graphics that denigrated the national hero, Simón Bolívar
Palacios.
The major Caracas newspapers in 1990 included
Últimas
Noticias, an independent newspaper with a daily run of
320,000 copies; Meridiano, with 300,000 copies; and
El
Mundo, El Nacional, and Diario 2001, all
independent dailies with a circulation of approximately
150,000.
El Universal, which used to be among the top
Caracas
dailies, had fallen to a circulation of 140,000 by 1990.
Still
influential, though of much smaller circulation, were
Panorama and La Crítica of Maracaibo and
El
Diario de Caracas. The Daily Journal, an
Englishlanguage newspaper in Caracas, had a print run of about
20,000
copies.
Venezuela had no domestic news agency, but several
foreign
agencies maintained offices in Caracas, among them the
Italian
News Agency (ANSA), Associated Press (AP) and United Press
International from the United States, Reuters from
Britain, and
TASS from the Soviet Union. The Ministry of Transport and
Communications regulated broadcasting; the Venezuelan
Chamber of
the Broadcasting Industry (Cámara Venezolana de la
Industria de
Radiodifusión) exercised oversight functions. Most of the
country's approximately 180 radio stations were
commercial, but
the government did operate the Radio Nacional network. The
country had 6.7 million radio receivers in 1986 and
approximately
2.8 million television sets. Both government and
commercial
companies operated television stations. The Venezuelan
government
took advantage of this extensive radio and media network
to
inform its people, particularly those who lived far away
from
major urban centers, on educational, agricultural, and
civic
matters. Stations were concentrated in Caracas, but
transmitter
were found throughout the country.
Probably more so than elsewhere in Latin America,
television
was an established medium. The country had five television
stations: two owned by the government, two commercial, and
one
directed by the Roman Catholic Church. Telecasts began in
1953 on
the government-owned Televisora Nacional. The first
private
commercial station, Venevisión, opened a few months later,
followed by another private station, Radio Caracas
Television.
These two became national networks and were soon joined by
the
government-owned Venezuelan Television Network and a
station
directed by the Roman Catholic Church. All had excellent
facilities and generally broadcast programs of high
quality.
Television continued to be extremely popular at all social
levels
and to represent a status symbol for the rural and urban
poor.
Data as of December 1990
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