"Chavez claimed they (Globovision) were part of the right-wing opposition that supported the 2002 coup that briefly removed him from power." --from the OP
There is NO question that Globovision participated in the 2002 coup attempt. This is not merely something that Chavez "claimed." It is a known fact. They were active members of the coup plot, used their broadcast license to actively promote the coup on TV, and DENIED ACCESS TO THE AIRWAVES FOR MEMBERS OF THE CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT DURING THE COUP.
Chavez, once safely restored to his rightful office as president, would have been justified in storming their studios and throwing them all in jail! This was high treason against a legitimately elected government.
To say that Chavez "claimed" this to be true (that Globovision was part of the coup), when it is OBJECTIVELY true, is severe bias in a news article.
All this crybabying by Corporate propagandists and coupsters about "free speech" turns my stomach. They have turned "free speech" on its head. For them, it is a "Big Lie" propaganda tool--indeed, a weapon for overthrowing democracy. It has NO relationship to the "free speech" and "free press" that our Founders revered and enshrined as the First Amendment to the Constitution. Corporate domination of the public airwaves is ANTI-democratic.
By "free speech," they mean CORPORATE speech, and they made that very, very clear during the 2002 coup attempt in Venezuela. NO MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT WERE ALLOWED TO SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE ON TV. The elected government. The legitimate government. The only government. The government they were trying to OVERTHROW!
The Chavez government's effort to de-monopolize public discourse in Venezuela--to break up this Corporate monopoly on speech--are laudable. They are what OUR government should be doing. And they greatly resemble the "Fairness Doctrine" that we once had here.
The "Fairness Doctrine" was grounded in the FEAR of exactly what happened in Venezuela--that if Corporate media moguls got too powerful and commandeered and monopolized the public's airwaves, they could use that power to overthrow the elected government.
So-o-o-o, our "Fairness Doctrine"--which was overturned by the Reagan junta--demanded certain things of broadcasters as requirements for their licenses, including fair and objective political coverage, and equal time for opposing views if the license owners violated fairness, and public service broadcasts--for instance, broadcasting full political conventions (now they truncate and "spin" the conventions to suit themselves), broadcasting presidential speeches whenever the President.wanted to speak to the people, and other community service. Additional laws forbade media monopolies and strictly enforced laws against them. Corporate broadcasters were subject to strict regulation in the public interest. That is what the Chavez government is trying to do--in slightly different ways but with similar intent--to open the public's airwaves to FULL political debate, to prevent abuse of broadcast power, and to make it clear to Corporate broadcasters that they use the PUBLIC'S airwaves by PERMISSION of the people and have NO inherent "right" to do so. And when they repeatedly violate the rules laid down by the elected government, they will lose their licenses.
We need to do this here--again. We need to bring back the "Fairness Doctrine"--before these Corporate entities destroy our democracy altogether.
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