The Overt Media War Against the Maduro Government

[Judi Lynn]

The Overt Media War Against the Maduro Government
By Les Blough, Editor, Axis of Logic
Sunday, Feb 8, 2015

The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.


- Malcolm X

On January 30, 2015, El Universal, one of the big three media set on overthrowing the elected government in Venezuela published an article with the bold headline, Poverty hits 48.4% of households in Venezuela. The formula has been in place for the last 15 years. From Venezuela’s private opposition newspapers and television channels, the attacks come in an unrelenting barrage against the Bolivarian Government which is then fed to Reuters and Associated Press, picked up by the likes of the Miami Herald, New York Times, Washington Post and other publications and spread around the world. We’ve decided to examine a recent attack by El Universal which along with El Nacional publishes venom against the government every single day.

This El Universal article targets one of the core achievements of the Chávez and Maduro governments in the Bolivarian Revolution. In war, it’s common for insurgents to seek out the weak positions of their stronger enemy from rear and harass and bite at the flanks with sneak attacks.

But in this case, a sworn enemy of the government uses the tactic of a full frontal attack in the media war, choosing to undermine and neutralize one of the Venezuelan governments finest and unassailable achievements: its dramatic reduction in poverty during the last 15 years, recognized by the United Nations, human rights groups, generally undenied by the corporate media and most importantly supported by the majority of the Venezuelan people. Unlike military battles, in media-wars the insurgents can attack the strongest positions of their enemy with the powerful weapon of illusion used to confound the unwary reader. The only way to fight them off is to expose their lies and disinformation, the purpose of this counter-attack.

El Universal’s front line attack in this case cited, “A survey compiled by Andrés Bello University (UCAB, Catholic), Central University of Venezuela (UCV), and Simón Bolívar University (USB) which shows that the Venezuelan economic crisis, dominated by galloping inflation, was harsher on the most vulnerable sectors of the country last year.” Rather than using their typical rhetoric based upon hearsay, the opposition media borrows from the credibility and prestige of opposition universities to trumpet that the government’s social programs have failed and poverty is increasing in Venezuela.

More:
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_69298.shtml

[polly7]

1. Thank you for this important article. nt.

[forest444]

2. Moving the poverty line goalpost, a cheap but effective rhetorical tactic by some in the media

"Poverty" is a very loose term. Why, here in the U.S. we have the (widely scoffed) $2,000-a-month, pre-tax, poverty line for a family of four; other studies place the real U.S. poverty rate at close to 30% - using the much more realistic $3,000-a-month threshold. So, while I don't doubt that the real poverty rate down there is something like the 48.5% quoted in the academic study, it's worth remembering that before Chávez - with all his mistakes and faults - the poverty rate generally cited in the media for Venezuela was 80%. (http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/05/local/la-me-hugo-chavez-20130306)

This refers to income poverty; the reduction in "structural" poverty (i.e. lack of public services and decent housing) should also be examined - keeping in mind, of course, that structural poverty improvements take much longer to alleviate.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Yes, that poverty level was 80%. I remember reading about it years ago.

Your last point is excellent. Absolutely right.