Last weekend, Nicolas Maduro announced in Bolivia that Telesur, the news/propaganda channel created in 2005 by Venezuela and its allies to “promote Latin American integration” will start broadcasting in English next month.
Telesur has been Chavismo & Friends’ TV mouthpiece for years, but to many the channel has failed in its goal of become an alternative to CNN, BBC or Al Jazzera. In fact, its unabashedly biased coverage of events like the 2011 Libyan Civil War or the ongoing Syrian conflict has shown the channel is more interested in promote an ideological agenda than being a true news channel. It’s sort of a tropicalized RT.
Look no further than right now: their World Cup show is called De Zurda (left-footed), which according to producer Patricia Mantilla:
…will show a particular view of Latin America around the World Cup. The show will present a special point of view that beside the sports angle, will analyze the social, political and cultural reality of the participating countries and promote Latin American integration.”
And guess who’s one of the hosts? No other than Diego Armando Maradona (along with veteran sport broadcaster Victor Hugo Morales). That’s right. And he didn’t waste any time in attacking FIFA in the show (but in the end, who doesn’t have a beef with FIFA these days? I do. So does Quico.) Now, he blames them of banning him from entering Maracana before the Argentina-Bosnia game of days ago.
And who was one of its first guests? Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa. Not your average sport show alright.
The communicational hegemony insists on keeping Telesur alive and relaunch so it can go unwatched in yet another language. But as RT’s coverage of the Ukrainian coverage proved not long ago, all the Russian gas money in the world cannot buy credibility the way you can buy premiership footballers. Audiences can smell the propaganda miles away, and doubly so for sophisticated audiences with easy access to much better sources. The one upside? This is State TV “crossword puzzle expert” Miguel Perez Pirela’s big chance for international stardom…
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Telesur is also the propaganda outlet for the terrorist-drug dealer-kidnapper-pedophile gang of the farc in Colombia, broadcasting all sorts of crazy stuff to deceive people about those bastards.
That earned them the nickname of “telefarc”
I’d watch Perez Pirela. I really would. If he can do his schtick in English, stardom beckons.
subtitles?
Gringos no suelen leer subtítulos.
you’re right, Kep. But if you’re an oh-so-earnest angry gringo with a chip on your shoulder, you should make an effort to read sub-titles. That is, for the sake of communicational hegemony, now based in Quito. Besides, it’s not as though PP is eye candy. And with so many angry birds around the globe, speaking in various dialects, even among the anglophones, subtitles would really aid in consolidating the message (“Poor and angry is beautiful.”)
I think the Venezuelan government will probably contact one of its US stars, people like Eva G. or M. Weisbrot. They’ll do the motions if the money is right.
Eva would be more likely, given her RT credentials. But would she want to leave her Park Slope abode, now that she has cashed in, after promoting the revolution for over 10 years?
As for the difficulties in reading sub-titles, maybe they are not even necessary. It’s not as though the revolution counts on abundant numbers of deep thinkers, especially at 1 a.m.
Here’s an example where no sub-titles are necessary: http://www.bonapeti.bg/recepti/Yaytse-v-oblak1376338503/
Probably true but in any event, any stoned gringo watching cable television at 1 a.m. will likely avoid subtitles in favour of shows with crudely drawn cartoons or puppets.
LOL Canucklehead, searching the dial for eternity trying to find Bill Tush on Channel 17.http://www.ajc.com/news/news/opinion/tbs-tower-rich-in-memories-history-and-a-few-notab/nQnLN/?__federated=1
“In fact, its unabashedly biased coverage of events like the 2011 Libyan Civil War or the ongoing Syrian conflict has shown the channel is more interested in promote an ideological agenda than being a true news channel.”
Change that to: “its unabashedly biased coverage of EVERYTHING”, and that’d be more like it.
And Maradona is laughing all the way to the bank with 4 million Euros for his coverage of the World Cup for Telesur.
The govt has been generally succesfull in creating a communicational guarimba or blackout of oppo views for most of its traditional constituency ( many of which are so brainwashed and fanatized that they cant understand or see anything which doenst fit with their delusions) but despite all its efforts it hasnt been at all sucessfull in selling its wares or even in making them be watched or heard by a mostly indifferent and yawning public .This in Venezuela were they hold all their cards . The attempt to bring their views to the attention of a much more critical american audience is bound to result in a rotund failure.Make them feel good and important that in theory they are presenting their views to a foreign public , thats the way their mentality work , misinformation broadcast to foreigner has a speciall importance precisely becaue they are foreign , which in a way reveals a kind of reverse racism that make them pine for foreign approval more than for the approval of its own people . what jerks !!
“This is State TV “crossword puzzle expert” Miguel Perez Pirela’s big chance for international stardom…” Good lord. What ignorance.
I was being sarcastic back there.
Remember when Obiang came and they praised him?
I do.