Venezuelan TV station goes dark

VENEZUELAN TV STATION GOES DARK
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Chris Kraul]
Folk music, a Cuban documentary and heavy doses of government propaganda glorifying "21st century socialism" highlighted the first day of a new television channel that on Monday took over airspace of Venezuela's oldest and most popular station, a frequent critic of leftist President Hugo Chavez. At midnight Sunday, Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, went dark for the first time in 53 years after the Chavez government refused to renew its broadcast license, alleging violations of telecommunications law. That decision, announced in December, has been slammed by international press freedom groups, several governments and even some Chavez supporters. RCTV, a powerhouse news and prime-time programmer, was replaced on the airwaves by Televisora Venezolana Social, or TVes, after the Supreme Court over the weekend gave the new broadcaster the right to use RCTV's towers and microwave transmitters. RCTV lent at least tacit support to a 2002 coup against the president by directing marchers and then failing to inform the public that the coup had failed. Whereas other major broadcasters reportedly reached understandings with the Chavez government to soften their criticisms, RCTV had remained critical since the failed coup. "What government in the world would renew the license of a broadcaster implicated in a military coup?" said presidential advisor Alexander Main, noting that last week two other commercial stations' licenses were renewed.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-ventv29may29,1,5...
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