Press. voanews.com
Claudia Lizardo and her boyfriend were riding a public bus in
Venezuela's capital city one day in spring when the vehicle passed an
anti-government demonstration, with people running from security forces amid
clouds of tear gas. "There was a lot of anguish in the street,"
recalled Lizardo, a 29-year-old creative director for a digital content studio.
But she was troubled that other riders seemed impassive. "The people ...
were completely isolated."
Or, maybe they weren't sufficiently aware, she and several others
surmised in deciding to address possible information gaps via a truly mobile
news platform, El Bus TV. Now, they and imitators elsewhere in Venezuela are
boarding public buses, delivering news bulletins while framing their faces with
cardboard TV screens. Getting impartial information can be a challenge in
Venezuela, where journalists operate in a restrictive environment, legacy news
operations promote government views, and at least half the country's 31 million
people lack internet access to seek information on their own.
Venezuela's socialist government began clamping down on independent news
media after Hugo Chavez came to power in 1992, according to the U.S.-based
website Nieman Reports, and Nicolas Maduro continued the practice when he
became president in 2014. Nieman provided an accounting as of early June:
"... Five television channels have been closed and nine removed from cable
television subscription services; 62 radio stations have gone off the air
because of official prohibitions; and the government has fined media outlets 32
times." That has created an atmosphere of intimidation, censorship and
self-censorship among some media outlets, Nieman observed.
Though she personally opposes Maduro's policies, Lizardo said she and
her colleagues strive to present even-handed, fact-based reports in buses
predominantly serving poor neighborhoods. She spoke with VOA last week about El
Bus TV in an interview edited for length and clarity.
VOA: Who operates El Bus TV?
Lizardo: Long-time journalist Laura Castillo is a co-founder. We teamed
up to give more journalistic structure to El Bus TV, which is basically a
mobile television newscast. Laura and I decided that we would go out on the
street on May 27, the 10th anniversary of the closing of Radio Caracas Televisión,
a very important channel for Venezuelans. We met with four friends in
communications: María Gabriela Fernández, Víctor Rodríguez, Nicolás Manzano and
Abril Mejía. We've been doing this as honestly as we can. There have been
replicas throughout the country, with about 50 people participating.
How do riders respond to El Bus TV?
It is rather strange that a group of people should raise a cardboard
frame to tell news on a bus, so we try to do it with the greatest respect and
the greatest [commitment to] truth and balance. People have reacted marvelously
-- 90 to 95 percent of the time, they applaud at the end of the
"broadcast." Some people do not agree with certain information; then
there are debates. If someone raises an opinion, another passenger responds and
the team is not part of this debate. Bus TV raises the news, both sides of the
coin, with statements from both parties.
How frequently does El Bus TV deliver the news?
This has been changing and growing. We originals all have jobs from 9 to
6, so we have been doing this activity in our spare time. We don't do breaking
news. The original group usually goes out twice a week, the other teams that
have been replicating us do it when they can. There are many students. Has
there been any trouble – theft or violence – against you or other passengers
when El Bus TV delivers the news?
Not yet, thank God. We board a bus with a team of five people, not just
two, making it more complicated to steal from us. How do you feel about
informing the public during these difficult times in Venezuela? It's emotional.
It was traditional for Venezuelans to have access to simple and truthful
information. In that sense, we are returning a little to the roots of
journalism – to pure, direct journalism. Contact with people is extremely
important to us.
We are completely independent, [we] do not respond to the interests of any
party or political personality. This is a serious journalistic exercise to
really give the news in a balanced way. ... We haven't gotten any negative
reaction from the government.