Sky’s coverage of events in Venezuela has been poor and skewed – but it has been better than that of the BBC. At least Sky has given some coverage to the huge pro-Maduro protests.
But it has still shaped its narrative around the idea that ‘Venezuela is ready for change’ – even though, while both opposition and pro-government protests have been huge, those in support of Maduro have been far larger – and voice-overs on its coverage have gushed about the meaning of opposition marches while skipping over the significance of Maduro’s popular support.
But when Sky News invited a Venezuela expert to talk about events and political realities in the country yesterday, Dr Peter Watt consistently gave a very inconvenient depiction of the situation in Venezuela and its causes.
Watt pointed out the robustness of the Venezuelan presidential election, the disastrous impact of a string of US interventions in South America and dismissing ‘interim president’ Juan Guaido as someone that 80% of Venezuelans had never heard of until last week – as well as noting Trump’s appointment of an actual war criminal with a track record of attacking South American democracies to oversee the process. The consternation of the interviewer was evident.
So when covering the same events this morning, Sky News rolled out a different expert – one whose responses were much more ‘on message’:
The Sunday guest claimed that 80% of Venezuelans oppose Nicolas Maduro and his government – even though Sky News, unlike the BBC, has been showing footage of the far larger pro-Maduro protests, albeit without the gushing commentary.
SKWAWKBOX comment:
There is without question an Establishment narrative on Venezuela we’re expected to accept. Things do not always work out – and the facts are ‘inconvenient’.
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