Venevisión scores a media coup

Let it never be said that I won’t give some credit to the media whores when it’s due. Venevisión, the opposition channel owned by Gustavo Cisneros, decided to give this healthy-competition thingie a try, and scoop their oughta-be rival but more frequent collaborator, Globovisión (the FUX Snooze of Venezuela). How did they do it? By interviewing no less a personage than the president of Venezuela. Here’s the full monty:

The first segment is very short, and deals specifically with the assault on the vandalized Maripérez synagogue, which is starting to reek of an inside job. The next five are the program in its entirety. The public got the opportunity to call in and ask questions of Chavecito themselves. Say what you will about the man, he’s not media-shy, nor does he fear the people; he welcomes any chance to talk, always rolls out a boatload of indisputable facts, and makes himself available to anyone who wants to interview him. He entertains and informs all in the same breath. And for once, Venevisión decided to make good use of an opportunity, score an exclusive, and act reasonably non-partisan to boot. Compare and contrast this to the “zero Chavismo on screen” approach they took during the coup of ’02.

This how journalism should work, but seldom does on Venezuelan commercial channels. Kudos to Venevisión for laying aside their putschist tendencies and getting it right for a change.