[HCDX] Venezuelan Government's Decision to Shut Down Radio Caracas Television Politically Motivated

["Zacharias Liangas " <greekdx@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://bbsnews.net/article.php/20070523103514371

TV Shutdown Harms Free Expression 

HRW via BBSNews - Washington, DC, May 23, 2007 -- The 
Venezuelan government's politically motivated decision not to renew a 
television broadcasting license is a serious setback for freedom of 
expression in Venezuela, Human Rights Watch said today. The 
decision will shut down Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), the country's 
oldest private channel, when its license expires on May 27, 2007. 

President Hugo Chavez has repeatedly threatened to cancel RCTV's 
license ever since he accused it of supporting an April 2002 coup 
attempt. On December 28, 2006, he announced during a military 
ceremony that the order not to renew the channel's 20-year license had 
already been drafted. 

"President Hugo Chavez is misusing the state's regulatory authority to 
punish a media outlet for its criticism of the government," said Jose 
Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "The move 
to shut down RCTV is a serious blow to freedom of expression in 
Venezuela." 

Of the three commercial stations accessible in all parts of Venezuela, 
only RCTV has remained strongly critical of the government. The other 
two? Venevision and Televen?were themselves accused of 
supporting the attempted coup and subsequent anti?government 
protests. But both have since removed virtually all content critical of the 
government from their programming. 

Venevision's license is also due for renewal on May 27, but the 
government has remained silent about the channel's future, in contrast 
to its repeated public attacks on RCTV. 

Officials defend the decision by pointing out that the government is 
merely exercising its right not to renew RCTV's broadcasting license 
when it expires. However, no procedure was established to enable 
RCTV to present evidence and arguments in its favor; the criteria on 
which the decision was based were not established clearly beforehand, 
nor was there any application or selection process allowing RCTV to 
submit an application for continuation of its concession. 

In March 2007 the government published details of its case?a 
360?page "White Book on RCTV"?which includes pages of allegations 
against the station, some of them based on investigations by the 
government broadcasting authority CONATEL. The report was issued 
months after Chavez made his announcement and does not address 
the station's replies to CONATEL's investigation. 

The White Book accuses RCTV of "inciting rebellion," showing "lack of 
respect for authorities and institutions," breaking the laws protecting 
minors, engaging in monopolistic practices, and failing to pay taxes. 
However, it does not cite a single final judicial or administrative ruling 
establishing that the channel had in fact committed any of these alleged 
offenses during its 20?year contract. No one from the channel has 
been convicted for their alleged complicity in the attempted coup. 

Government officials have announced that RCTV will be replaced by a 
public service channel open to community groups and independent 
producers and without editorial control by the state or government 
programming. 

The government has not made a clear case why RCTV must be taken 
off the air to set up the new channel. The government has frequencies 
at its disposal on both VHF and UHF wavebands in many parts of 
Venezuela. It has already used UHF frequencies to successfully install 
a nationwide education and cultural channel, Vive TV. 

"The government's proposal to democratize the airwaves sounds great 
in theory, but shutting down broadcasters for their political views is not 
the way to do it," said Vivanco.

http://zlgr.multiply.com (raidio monitoring site plus audio clips )
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/302315/ (Litohoro) 321199/Tinos 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachgr    pictures upload 
.
on my main : www.geocities.com/zliangas 
-tty-px.html : test of various TTY programs
-ethics.htm    : greek ethics , days and institutions 
-frape.htm: the greek way of cofee !!! 
Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece 
greekdx @ otenet dot gr  ---  
Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75 , Lowe HF150 , Degen 1102,1103,108,
Tecsun PL200/550, Chibo c300/c979, Yupi 7000 
Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop 



---[Start Commercial]---------------------

Preorder your WRTH 2007:
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2007
---[End Commercial]-----------------------
________________________________________
Hard-Core-DX mailing list
Hard-Core-DX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/
_______________________________________________

THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed
and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License
published by Michael Stutz at 
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html