Debating the merits of a press prize for Venezuela's Ch谩vez
| Caracas, Venezuela
Prompting an international debate on journalism philosophy appeared exactly what an Argentine university wanted when it awarded a prestigious press prize this week to Venezuelan President Hugo Ch谩vez.
鈥淭he prize we are giving is not neutral, it is not aseptic ... you head a profound process of emancipation in Latin America,鈥� the dean of La Plata University's journalism program, Florencia Saintout, said to Mr. Ch谩vez during the award ceremony Tuesday in Buenos Aires.
Why did he get the award? Ms. Saintout lauded Ch谩vez鈥檚 commitment to giving a voice to people once lacking media access.
Ch谩vez in 2005 helped create Telesur, a state-funded television network that covers regional and global news. His government has also showered millions of dollars into building a new network of 鈥減opular media,鈥� supporting community radio and television stations throughout Venezuela. Most of the largest barrios surrounding Caracas now have their own locally produced programming backed by state funding as a result.
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That Ch谩vez has also successfully snuffed out most privately owned media from Venezuela鈥檚 airwaves was likely not ignored by Ms. Saintout, but rather viewed as a crucial part of the 鈥渆mancipation process鈥� she highlighted.
鈥淚t鈥檚 worth pointing out that it is not a prize for a democratic leader nor for someone defending freedom of expression,鈥� says Gregorio Salazar, the regional director for the International Federation of Journalists.
Still, the award rankled critics across the region. In Venezuela, while opposition views and satire are alive and well in independent newspapers and websites, Chavez鈥檚 control of the airwaves is nearly complete. He is notorious for forcing opposition-owned Radio Caracas Televisi贸n Internacional (RCTV) off the air in 2007 by refusing to renew its broadcast license. His government has silenced nearly 40 radio and TV stations from the air, citing similar licensing issues.
Mr. Salazar called the award an absolute 鈥渋gnominy,鈥� adding that Ch谩vez "has used justice as an instrument to persecute the free press."
Criticism echoed from Argentina, where lawmakers spoke out against the award, to Venezuela, where a leading daily newspaper called the award "absurd," to the United States, where media experts questioned the prize.
"It is disingenuous for a journalism school to honor a leader who supports popular media but who is also a declared enemy of traditional independent media, as Ch谩vez is in Venezuela," said John Dinges, a professor of journalism at Columbia University in New York, in an e-mail response to questions. "You can't separate the two, as if attacks on independent media (those the government doesn't control) should somehow not be construed as limiting the freedom of expression vital to democracy."
Venezuela's journalists' guild also contested the prize, sending an to Ms. Saintout of La Plata University.
"Our union ... has borne witness ... to multiple actions taken under the government of President Ch谩vez to create censorship and self-censorship among journalists and independent media and establish in Venezuela what was termed by current Information Minister Andr茅s Izarra as communications hegemony," the Venezuelan National Press Workers' Association wrote.
Meanwhile, on a day in which most of the international news coverage of Venezuela was focused on Ch谩vez's journalism award, Venezuelans were talking about a massive power failure that knocked out the capital鈥檚 metro and paralyzed traffic for most of the day.
A master of political theater, Ch谩vez no doubt relished the spotlight during his four-nation swing through Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Colombia.
