RCTV, Venezuelan Television Network

From Censorpedia

Date: 2007

Region: South America

Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Television


Artist: Venezuela's RCTV network

Confronting Bodies: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez

Date of Action: May 27, 2007

Location: Venezuela

Description of Artwork: The RCTV was Venezuela's oldest nationwide television network.

The Incident: Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez announced that he would not renew the license of the RCTV network. This incident occured after Chavez announced five months before RCTV's May 27 shutdown that he would not renew the network's license because of its news coverage during a 2002 coup attempt.

Results of Incident: Now, Chávez controls most nationwide television networks, and the ones that remain in private hands - except for Globovisiýn, which is on cable and doesn't have a nationwide reach - are self-censoring their news.

Source: ANDRES OPPENHEIMER, "OAS Silence on Venezuela Censorship is Scary," miamiherold.com, posted on June 7, 2007.