April 1, 2008
Eva Golinger - U.S.-Venezuelan lawyer, writer and political analyst - says that the private TV station Globovision features a political space in order to spread manipulated and distorted information from abroad. “It seeks to highlights its importance and echo in Venezuela as if this moves public opinion in the United States.”
According to Eva Golinger - U.S.-Venezuelan lawyer, writer and political analyst - Globovision has taken up the role of spokesperson of the Venezuelan rightwing and other adversaries of President Chávez. She thinks that this TV station has become a portal to spread manipulated and distorted information in Venezuela from abroad. “Though it does not have as much projection as other private TV stations, it features a much bigger political space than any other station.”
Golinger explains that some issued by the U.S. Department of State were spread by Globovision not long ago before other media could broadcast it. “This TV station received information from a private source of the U.S. government and spread it before the very same U.S. spokespersons announced it,” she affirms.
Likewise, this political analyst mentions that some information is channeled via Globovision from overseas though it does not have enough international importance. “These actions undertaken by this channel make everybody thinks that information about Venezuela is going around the world,” she said.
”This has happened with information issued by different U.S. spokespersons and which is not going to be published at all by any U.S. newspaper of TV station. There, information is taken into account by public opinion when it is about a very important case such as the Iraq war or a special announcement by President Bush,” she explains.
Is it important to the U.S. public opinion that a U.S. official gives information about Venezuela?
Nobody sees it and nobody finds out about it in the United States. Only the journalists covering the U.S. Department of State report it as news, but no TV station gives it much importance. Through Globovision, they seek to highlight its importance and echo in Venezuela as if this moves public opinion in the United States. It also happens with some U.S. congressmen and women: unless the magnitude of the news is too important, most of the U.S. people is not interested in what they say there about the country.
Globovision, together with El Universal and El Nacional newspapers, has been a source of information for the U.S. intelligence bodies. In the last years, declassified documents of the Department of Defense always quote this TV station as an “official” source. I remember a particular document dated in 2002 that stated there were links between President Chávez and the FARC presented by Globovision, El Universal, El Nacional, El Tiempo de Bogotá and RCN.
How does Globovision act in Venezuela as the defender of multinational interests?
As we can see, media outlets such as =Globovision are identified with the right, and they are disinformation, propaganda and manipulation centers whose mission is to exaggerate the distortion of reality. Also, they have perfected their style thanks to the advice of psychological operation laboratories planned by the United States. There is no doubt about it. In 2005, the Pentagon opened a special office for this and hired private companies to support the devising of this strategy. In this sense, Globovision has improved its presentation of information so that it reaches the public in a much more shocking way. Sometimes they turn positive information into negative by using background music. They work on audiovisual senses in order to spread panic, and we have to add its journalists’ gestures when reporting.
Globovision’s joint work with other multinational media outlets
How does Globovision work with Colombia’s TV station RCN and the U.S. CNN?
Globovision is the portal through which RCN’s and CNN’s news are broadcasted. In Globovision they select the information they think it’s good for them to broadcast in our country. They are 24-hour news channels and they broadcast the most negative things about Venezuela. For instance, regarding the “suitcase” case, they broadcasted news of the most right-wing channel in Argentina. And just as the U.S. Department of State quotes Globovision, this TV station quotes RCN and CNN as sources. This is just a constant recycling of messages; this is how this psychological operation laboratory works.
Likewise, they use strategies on how to influence public opinion by generating negative opinions: “Chávez is a dictator,” “there is not freedom of speech,” “economy is so down,” “there is drug trafficking in Venezuela.” These are the messages Globovision broadcasts every day. These are the messages recycled bv The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Spain’s El País, and other newspapers of he continent that share the same economic interests. The same happens with big monopolies such as Univision and Fox, which quotes Globovision in the United States. The worst part of all this is that the original source is lost and the veracity of news can not be verified.
IAPA: Media Attack against Venezuela
What consequences does the IAPA’s visit have in Venezuela?
There is no doubt that this meeting is aimed at drawing attention about freedom of expression in Venezuela. Many Venezuelan private media are members of the IAPA and - as everybody knows – this organization is not comprised by journalists. It is an association comprised by owners of private media, who have been executing their agenda against Venezuela. It acts against the Venezuelan people, who want this political model and President Hugo Chávez. This is the reason why the IAPA did not defend Venezuela’s Channel 8, and the people who was being massacred during the April 2002 coup d’ état.
They are the defenders of journalists who impudently lie and start shouting that there is a big repression in Venezuela when people protest against them because they have broken law. I don’t know of a different country where they can do the same. In the United States, various journalists are in jail and sanctions have been imposed on media outlets and people here don’t have the first idea about this situation. Because, while information is constantly manipulated in the United States, there are institutions where people can bring complaints and they are responded.
Should we expect a IAPA’s media attack in the next months?
Yes, of course. It is their constant attitude. They come because they are reacting to the RCTV case. This time, besides complaining about Venezuela and Cuba, they will do the same with Bolivia. I just arrived from that Andean country and I can tell you that they don’t have a state-run communication apparatus as we do have here. Private media control everything there. So, how is it possible that they say here is no freedom of expression in Bolivia? I found it disturbing. I would like to know how the IAPA is going to say that freedom of expression is being undermined in Venezuela when they can turn on their TV sets and hear their own statements in the press, which is 1000% independent, and in 90% of the private radio stations. On the contrary, they should talk about the pitiful situation of freedom of expression in Colombia or the United States.
The IAPA puts and removes governments in the continent
What’s the aim of the invitation extended by the IAPA to President Hugo Chávez to attend their Annual Assembly?
Inviting President Chávez and his Communication and Information Minister, Andrés Izarra, is a provocation and an act of arrogance. William Brownfield, former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela and current U.S. ambassador to Colombia, when asked whether NBC’s broadcasting license could be removed, said that it was impossible because this network’s owners also own General Electric, which is part of the U.S. Military Complex.
President Chávez once said that when he visited the headquarters of the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, he was told that “they put and removed presidents” from there. Those comprising the IAPA have taken on the role of putting and removing presidents. They invite the Venezuelan President because they think they are so superior that he must subordinate to the IAPA’s interests. They want to put President Chávez in a “cage” and tell him what he should do. It’s enough to visit the IAPA’s web page to see how many lies they have told about the Venezuelan government. This invitation is a clear disrespect.
Latin American Meeting against Media Terrorism
What do you think about the Latin American Meeting against Media Terrorism?
I think this forum about media terrorism is the people’s appropriate response. This is something we should do often because public information and communication is one of the most important issues in contemporary world. It is the most powerful weapon of the enemy, big multinationals and the U.S. Empire. Currently, it is difficult to distinguish between information and propaganda. Information has been used in order to promote wars. What is really veracious information? These are issues that have to be discussed: what’s the source of information? Which media is this one and where are the multinational interests? I think that meetings like this one should promote further research and answer questions such as: Where is traditional journalism? What has traditional journalism turned into? Who is leading traditional journalism? I hope that this meeting produces other ways to face these actions and respond to media terrorism.
