[For Calvin Tucker, co-editor of www.21stcenturysocialism.com, the BBC’s Caracas correspondent, James Ingham, has been at it again. 'It' being the use of clever journalistic tricks that leave the reader with the impression that the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, is a dictator-in-waiting. For a Spanish version of the article click here. --Ed]
BBC distorts Venezuela news
By Calvin Tucker - www.21stcenturysocialism.com
Monday, July 23, 2007
Correspondent James Ingham doesn’t tell
lies. He’s way too subtle for that. What he does instead is omit
crucial facts, and report actual facts as mere "claims" or
"accusations".
Take the case of RCTV, the Venezuelan TV station which failed to get
its licence renewed because, as a matter of incontrovertible fact, it
participated in a coup against the elected government of Hugo Chavez.
Ingham’s reporting introduces an element of doubt in the role played by RCTV:
"He [Chavez] says they were involved in a coup that nearly toppled him five years ago." ('Venezuelans protest over TV issue,' BBC Online, May 27, 2007)
Here, Ingham has relegated a hard fact to the status of an opinion. You might choose to believe what Chavez says. Or you might not. One of the reasons you might not is because the Western media has worked hard to discredit anything Chavez says.
In yesterday’s BBC Online, Ingham reported on what he said was Hugo Chavez’s “plans to form a single political party in Venezuela .”
(click here to view entire article)
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