[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [SRRTAC-L:17166] FW: Telesur to go on air July 24

[Al Kagan]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Rhonda Neugebauer" <rhondan at ucr.edu>
> Date: July 12, 2005 7:39:53 PM CDT
> To: SRRT Action Council <srrtac-l at ala.org>
> Subject: [SRRTAC-L:17166] FW: Telesur to go on air July 24
> Reply-To: rhondan at ucr.edu
>
>
> Interesting news of independent media in Latin America.  I remember  
> reading once that over 60% of the content in Latin American newspapers  
> originates in the United States.  It looks like this new Latin  
> American channel will help to remedy that alarming but typical  
> situation.  Rhonda
>  
>  
>  
> www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/special_packages/ 
> business_monday/12088738.htm
>
>  Posted on Mon, Jul. 11, 2005
>
> INTERNATIONAL
> Telesur challenges CNN en Español
>
> Latin American governments are launching a home-grown news and  
> cultural channel
>
> BY JENS ERIK GOULD
>
> Cox News Service
>
> CARACAS, Venezuela - Flickering across the TV screen, images of native  
> dancers gave way to highlights of political protests, some denouncing  
> the United States. One segment spotlighted a Bolivian string  
> instrument, another a Brazilian police murder. At one point appeared  
> the words, ``Finally we see our own faces.''
>
>  The excerpts were part of a May test broadcast of Telesur -- Spanish  
> for ''TeleSouth'' -- a Latin American news and cultural channel  
> scheduled to launch July 24.
>
>  Funded by the governments of Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay and Venezuela,  
> the channel calls itself a home-grown alternative to foreign and  
> commercial media coverage such as CNN.
>
>  ''The productions we get from abroad are a black-and-white vision of  
> Latin America, usually in black when there is a disaster,'' said  
> Telesur's director, Aram Aharonian. He said the channel will help  
> integrate a region that currently knows other parts of the world  
> better than itself.
>
>  But Chris Crommett, senior vice president of CNN en Español, the  
> hemisphere's only 24-hour international Spanish-language news channel,  
> said it was false to assume that his channel reflects an American  
> point of view just because it is headquartered in Atlanta.
>
>  ''Anyone that watches our air and says we're not reflecting the voice  
> of Latin America -- not just institutional and presidential, but  
> really all sectors of society -- isn't really watching much,''  
> Crommett said in a telephone interview.
>
>  All but one of CNN en Español's 15 on-air presenters in its Atlanta  
> studios are native Latin Americans. The network can also serve  
> regional audiences, Crommett said, because its news-gathering  
> resources include correspondents in every Latin American country.
>
>  Comparing CNN en Español with the company's U.S. and international  
> networks, Crommett said, ``I'm often fascinated to look up and see  
> just how different our channels can be.''
>
>  He said Telesur's format -- 30 percent to 40 percent news and the  
> rest cultural programming -- along with its state funding put it in a  
> separate market than his news channel.
>
>  Crommett also said that his network's reputation for credibility and  
> unique programming made it unlikely that the advent of Telesur would  
> affect its strong presence in the Latin American and U.S. markets.
>
>  CNN calculates that the network reaches 2.8 million U.S. homes, 37  
> percent of a fast-growing population of cable-watching Spanish  
> speakers. In Latin America, the channel is seen in 12.2 million  
> households, more than triple its viewership when it debuted in 1997.
>
>  CNN en Español also reaches 45 percent of business decision-makers,  
> according to a 2003 IPSOS survey of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
>
>  Aharonian had praise for CNN but also alleged that large media  
> outlets let political and economic pressure influence their news  
> coverage, shutting out voices from lesser-developed regions. He did  
> not mention any specific network, but said U.S. media coverage of  
> recent political turbulence in Ecuador gave more air time to analysts  
> in Washington than to the opinions of Ecuadoreans themselves.
>
> FOREIGN CHALLENGE
>
>  Carlos Correa, media expert and director of the Venezuelan human  
> rights group Provea, added that the strength of foreign media like CNN  
> made it hard for Latin Americans to promote their own cultural  
> products such as music and film.
>
>  Telesur, by contrast, will specialize in Latin American productions  
> and will not broadcast commercial advertising, unlike CNN and major  
> Spanish-language networks such as Telemundo and Univisión.
>
>  In addition to satellite coverage spanning the Americas, more than 60  
> U.S. cable providers and public stations are already interested in  
> picking up the Telesur signal, Aharonian said.
>
> Venezuela is funding 51 percent of the Telesur project, will house its  
> headquarters, and has a communications minister who is also Telesur's  
> president.
>
>  Opponents say this means the channel will be a platform for the  
> populist agenda of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who has tense  
> relations with the United States.
>
>  At one point, Telesur's test broadcast showed pro-Chávez  
> demonstrators hoisting a caricature of Uncle Sam on a banner reading,  
> ``Let's crush imperialism.''
>
>  Aharonian asked viewers to wait until Telesur hits the airwaves to  
> make assessments about its political leanings.
>
> NO PREJUDGMENT
>
>  Crommett said he didn't want to prejudge Telesur either, noting that  
> critics of CNN often accuse his network of having political  
> affiliations. He did say that Telesur's decision-making would need to  
> be in the hands of professional journalists for it to be a credible  
> source of information.
>
>  Provea's Correa, who believes freedom of expression is threatened in  
> Chávez's Venezuela, saw no danger in the channel. He explained that a  
> multigovernment project like Telesur was less likely to menace press  
> freedom than media funded by one government.
>
>  Aharonian offered assurances that Telesur's programming would not be  
> produced exclusively at its Caracas studios. Instead, it will also  
> draw from correspondents, independent producers, social organizations  
> and national and local channels.
>
>  Telesur will have news bureaus in cities across the Americas,  
> including Washington, Caracas, Mexico City, Havana, Bogota, La Paz,  
> Buenos Aires, Brasilia and Montevideo.
>
>
>  --- END ---
>

Al Kagan
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61820
USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
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