opinion

Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition --- these are protected by the First Amendment in the US and guaranteed in Venezuela by Articles 57 and 58 of our 1999 Bolivarian constitution, and comprise what we refer to as freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression is both fundamentally important in its own right and also key to the fulfillment of all other rights. The protection and implementation of other rights depend on freedom of expression in two ways --- it is only in societies where the free flow of information and ideas is permitted that individuals will be aware of their rights and actively seek to protect them. In addition, freedom of expression is essential if violations of human rights are to be exposed and challenged.

Freedom of speech is often regarded as an integral concept in modern democracies, where it is understood to outlaw government censorship.

Thus states may still punish (but not prohibit) certain damaging types of expressions, notably sedition, defamation, publishing secrets regarding matters of state security, etc.

When an individual announces an unpopular opinion, s/he may face the disdain of their community or even be subjected to violent reactions.

Free speech rights still need constant, vigilant protection as new questions arise and old ones return:

Should flag burning be a crime?

What about government or private censorship of works of art that touch on sensitive issues like religion or sexuality?

Should the Internet be subject to any form of government control?

What about punishing college students who espouse racist or sexist opinions?

At the same time, freedom of speech does not prevent punishing conduct that intimidates, harasses or threatens another person --- even if words are used.

Ethics are an integral part of freedom of expression and nowadays, the principles embodied in the concept of ethics are being violated constantly by journalists, media outlets (both state and private), religious figures and politicians across the globe to the detriment of democracy and freedom of speech around the world.

The essential duties of the journalist in gathering, reporting on and commenting on events consist in:

1) Respecting the truth no matter what consequences it may bring about to him/her, and this is because the right of the public is to know the truth.

2) Defending the freedom of information, of commentaries and of criticism.

3) Publishing only such pieces of information the origin of which is known or --- in the opposite case --- accompanying them with due reservations; not suppressing essential information and not altering texts and documents.

4) Not making use of disloyal methods to get information, photographs and documents.

5) Feeling obliged to respect the private lives of people.

6) Correcting any published information which has proved to be inaccurate.

7) Observing the professional secrecy and not divulging the source of information obtained confidentially.

8) Abstaining from plagiarism, slander, defamation and unfounded accusations as well as from receiving any advantage owing to the publication or suppression of information.

9) Never confusing the profession of journalist with that of advertiser or propagandist and not accepting any consideration, direct or not, from advertisers.

10) Refusing any pressure and accepting editorial directives only from the leading persons in charge in the editorial office. Every journalist worthy of this name feels honored to observe the above-mentioned principles; while recognizing the law in force in each country, he does accept only the jurisdiction of his colleagues in professional matters, free from governmental or other interventions.

In Venezuela, during the April 2002 coup and during the devastating oil strike in December 2002 and January 2003, we were able to witness how media outlets and journalists alike disregarded these ethical principles and infected the Venezuelan population with messages and TV ads full of hate and violence. Even the media owners gathered on December 13, 2002 let the whole world know that they were openly biased and calling for the president to resign. See, e.g., http://www.analitica.com/bitblioteca/varios/rueda_prensa_medios.asp.

Public speech, the media, and artistic creativity enjoy far greater freedoms in Venezuela these days than they did before the transition to democracy. Despite free speech laws in Venezuela, we have lies and silence instead of truth.

The new media law will only seek to diversify media outlets, increase the range of different points of view and regulate the malicious and violent private television and radio stations who irresponsibly and almost constantly invite and incite the populace at large to overthrow the government.

I feel that the new media law will lay the foundation for a better radio and television in Venezuela, where journalists can engage in constructive criticism of the government in a more objective and less sensationalistic fashion.

To create a climate of sincerity, we must not only challenge obvious hypocrisies but also demolish some hypocrisies so solidly entrenched in our culture we no longer notice them. Venezuela needs a pluralism and diversity of media that is independent both of large private corporations and of the state.

Today, as we are living in this new millennium, media concentration presents the real threat to freedom of expression. Since there is a mono-culturization of the world we see through television, imposing only one point of view and reasoning, the American way of life. In this age, where we can interact with different people across the globe, it is of great concern that media concentration is bent on presenting one single reality, that of American products, American people and American territory.

It simply boggles the mind how we in Venezuela are not able to watch programs produced in countries that are geographically closer to us like Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Cuba, the Bahamas, Aruba, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, among others.

There is a state of oligopoly or monopoly in a given media industry.

For example, movie production is known to be dominated by major studios since the early 20th century. The Cisneros Group of Companies from Venezuela is one of the largest privately held media, entertainment, telecommunications and consumer products organizations in the world. The company's assets include AOL Latin America; DIRECTV Latin America; Univision Communications, Inc.; Venevision, the leading television network in Venezuela; Eccelera, the Group's technology investing arm; and Venevision International, one of the largest television distribution companies in Ibero-America.

The Cisneros Group also owns, operates and has interests in other consumer product-based businesses in Latin America such as supermarket chains, fast food chains, video franchises and beverage companies. These companies include Pueblo Xtra International, Regional Brewing Company, Panamco and Blockbuster.

News Corporation Ltd. from Australia owned by Rupert Murdoch, is one of the three largest international media groups, operating in most sectors and most continents. Its main website includes the group's annual report and information about its global holdings. In 2000 the group had assets of around $36 billion and annual revenue of $14 billion. At the beginning of 2003 assets were around $42 billion, with revenues of $16 billion.

By April 2004 some 75 percent of revenue was attributable to operations in the US. At that time News announced plans to shift its corporate domicile from Australia to the US (which would facilitate access to capital) and to buy the Murdoch family's controlling stake in Queensland Press, which was partly owned by News and had a substantial stake in News.

Concentration of media ownership often refer to the presence of media conglomerates. When a company owns many different types of media businesses, it is referred to as a media conglomerate. Among the best-known examples are Time Warner, Disney, and Viacom.

Do you want one or two big companies acting as gatekeepers and controlling your access to news and entertainment?

We allow media companies to use them in exchange for their assurance that they're serving the public interest, yet fascist media outlets like Globovision, El Nacional and RCTV nightly news clearly show a disturbing and systematic pattern of lies, deceit, misinformation, half truths and exaggerations about events that occur daily, completely disregarding their own code of ethics and insulting the average reader both within Venezuela and abroad about the current state of affairs in our homeland. Spin is the key to providing info-tainment, truth and balanced coverage of news is something to be ignored and ridiculed in our everyday reality.

Without any pretensions or desire to be a know-it-all or an infallible individual, I wanted to write an article that calls for understanding and analysis about this worrisome trend. It is only my intention to promote a broader look about current issues, both in Venezuela and around the world, because in the end we are all Global Citizens.

If someone reading this wants to know what they can do about it, simply go here and start changing the world, little by little: http://www.fair.org/activism/activismkit.html.




Also in this section:
Jackson, Silent Night?
Alves & Johnson, Costa Rica's scandals
Silié, The poor pay the subsidies
Greenpeace, We'll see them in court
Marcano, Venezuela's media barons
Lerner, While much of the world starves...
Gutman, The right, the cross and the CIA
Bernal, Panama's moral and institutional crisis (II)
Leis, The delicate web that protects us

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