[Media Watch] Victory against Canadian media bias on Venezuela

14 March 2007

Hands Off Venezuela Canada

After receiving complaints about biased reporting in the Toronto Star on Venezuela, The Ontario Press Council has ruled that the stories in question did indeed lack balance. We provide here several documents and letters detailing the events of the case and the ruling.

We are happy to forward this letter from Maria Paez Victor about an important victory against the media's bias on Venezuela. Now we have it on record that the main corporate press is happy to publish unbalanced articles on Venezuela. We doubt this will stop them from doing the same thing in the future, but we will never let them forget that they have been found guilty of bias.

Here is the retraction the Star was forced to print - http://www.thestar.com/article/191111. We reproduce this statement at the end of this article.

See background articles here:

Presentation to the Ontario Press Council

Members of the Ontario Press Council Adjudication Hearing of 12 January 2006

Hands Off Venezuela congratulates Maria and Antonio for the significant work they put into this press complaint. Anybody wishing to receive the background documents should write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

13 March 2007

Dear Friends of Venezuela:

In May 2006, Antonio GarcÃa Danglades and I brought a complaint against the Toronto Star to the Ontario Press Council for publishing that month four erroneous and unbalanced articles on Venezuela that alleged an increase in poverty and crime since President Hugo ChÃ¡vez was elected. Ten months, two presentations to the Council and three letters to the Star later, we are pleased to inform you that the Ontario Press Council has upheld our complaint. The Council press release declared the following:

"A series of articles on Venezuela published in May 2006 lacked balance because of the absence of comment from government representatives, the Ontario Press Council says in upholding a complaint against the Toronto Star... In upholding the complaint, the Council says that despite efforts to provide balance through interviews with ordinary Venezuelans, it regards the lack of official comment as a significant deficiency."

The Ontario Press Council is the non-governmental body that upholds standards for newspaper journalism in this province and hears citizen's complaints. It maintains that when newspapers present what purports to be a statement of fact, they should ensure that it is accurate and, when necessary, provide the source of the information. If the statement is found to be in error, the newspaper should be prepared to promptly publish a correction or clarification. A press release on the decision of the Council concerning our complaint was sent to all newspapers across Ontario and Canada. The Toronto Star, the newspaper with the largest circulation in the country, was obliged to publish it, and it has done so today.

We brought evidence to prove that the Toronto Star's statements regarding poverty and crime in Venezuela were wrong, unsubstantiated and biased because the reporter relied on interviews with prominent members of the opposition. The articles disparaged Venezuelan statistics produced by the Venezuelan National Institute of Statistics, claiming they were unreliable, even though all countries and all major international organizations accept the work of that Institute as legitimate and reliable. The reporter quoted erroneous figures on poverty and crime given by the opposition and never once queried their sources or methodology and, most seriously, did not disclose to the public that the opposition was the source of this information.

Despite receiving a "carte blanche" from the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington to interview any member of the government he wished, the reporter did not interview a single member of the Venezuelan government, members of parliament, governors, directors of anti-poverty programs, the Venezuelan Institute of Statistics, or even members of the many political parties that support the government.

We presented evidence to the Ontario Press Council showing that one hundred and four foreign correspondents were given interviews with Venezuelan government officials in the prior 18 months period, a clear indication of the openness of the ChÃ¡vez Administration towards the international media. Yet, inexplicably, the Star Chief Correspondent, alleged difficulties in obtaining access.

This incident is indicative of a widespread media campaign against the government of Venezuela and its President Hugo ChÃ¡vez. We are very pleased with the Ontario Press Council process that allows ordinary citizens to challenge powerful media organizations. We urge you all to be vigilant and use all channels open to you whenever you see journalism that misinforms the public about what is really happening in Venezuela.

Attached, for your information are our presentations to the Council and the Council press release.

MarÃa PÃ¡ez Victor Antonio GarcÃa Danglades

ONTARIO PRESS COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2007 TORONTO - A series of articles on Venezuela published in May 2006 lacked balance because of the absence of comment from government representatives, the Ontario Press Council says in upholding a complaint against the Toronto Star. MarÃa PÃ¡ez Victor and Antonio GarcÃa Danglades of Toronto complained that the articles relied on opponents of President Hugo ChÃ¡vez for what they described as erroneous information about poverty and unemployment. They said the articles neglected to attribute to opposition sources the statement that 100,000 Venezuelans had been murdered since ChÃ¡vez was elected in 1998, and that poverty remains "stubbornly high," having "risen to more than 50 per cent during ChÃ¡vez's reign." They said unemployment fell in 2006 to 10.1 per cent from 13.5 in March 2005 and the rate of poverty declined 10 per cent in a year Declaring that its "strong interest" in interviewing ChÃ¡vez and/or government representatives was clear, the Star cited communications between the Venezuelan embassy in Washington and Caracas seeking to arrange such interviews. "The opportunity was offered and, in fact, aggressively pursued, but the government chose to ignore the requests." In response the complainants said "not even the most rabid ChÃ¡vez opponents accuse the Venezuelan government of not giving access to the international media - something that they are quite eager to do." Text of the adjudication: Maria PÃ¡ez Victor and Antonio GarcÃa Danglades of Toronto complained that a series of four articles on Venezuela published in the Toronto Star in May 2006 contained erroneous information about poverty and crime, lacked balance and did not include interviews with members of the government but relied on sources opposed to the regime of President Hugo ChÃ¡vez.

-2- The Star said its strong interest in interviewing Chavez and/or government ministers was clear but that the government chose to ignore its requests. It added that, in the absence of information from government representatives, its reporter sought to provide balance by conducting many interviews with Venezuelans. The Ontario Press Council says it believes only comment from government officials could offset criticism of the Venezuelan regime contained in the articles. It recognizes repeated appeals sent by way of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington failed to provide the reporter with access to government representatives in Caracas. Having exhausted appeals made through official channels prior to leaving for Venezuela, however, the Press Council suggests the reporter could have used the warm recommendations from the Washington embassy and old-fashioned door knocking in a further effort to get to government spokespersons. In upholding the complaint, the Council says that despite efforts to provide balance through interviews with ordinary Venezuelans, it regards the lack of official comment as a significant deficiency.

Mailed 8-03-2007

Document name: Victor-Danglades vs Toronto Star

Star stories on Venezuela lacked balance, panel rules

Mar 13, 2007 04:30 AM

A series of articles on Venezuela published last May lacked balance because of the absence of comment from government representatives, the Ontario Press Council says in upholding a complaint against the Toronto Star.

Maria Paez Victor and Antonio Garcia Danglades of Toronto complained that the articles relied on opponents of President Hugo Chavez for what they described as erroneous information about poverty and unemployment.

They said the articles neglected to attribute to opposition sources the statement that 100,000 Venezuelans had been murdered since Chavez was elected in 1988, and that poverty remains "stubbornly high," having "risen to more than 50 per cent during Chavez's reign."

They said unemployment fell in 2006 to 10.1 per cent from 13.5 in March 2005 and the rate of poverty declined 10 per cent in a year.

Declaring that its "strong interest" in interviewing Chavez and/or government representatives was clear, the Star cited communications between the Venezuelan embassy in Washington and Caracas seeking to arrange such interviews. "The opportunity was offered and, in fact, aggressively pursued, but the government chose to ignore the requests."

In response, the complainants said "not even the most rabid Chavez opponents accuse the Venezuelan government of not giving access to the international media â€“ something that they are quite eager to do."

Text of the adjudication:

Maria Paez Victor and Antonio Garcia Danglades of Toronto complained that a series of four articles on Venezuela published in the Toronto Star in May 2006 contained erroneous information about poverty and crime, lacked balance and did not include interviews with members of the government but relied on sources opposed to the regime of President Hugo Chavez.

The Star said its strong interest in interviewing Chavez and/or government ministers was clear but that the government chose to ignore its requests. It added that, in the absence of information from government representatives, its reporter sought to provide balance by conducting many interviews with Venezuelans.

The Ontario Press Council says it believes only comment from government officials could offset criticism of the Venezuelan regime contained in the articles.

It recognizes repeated appeals sent by way of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington failed to provide the reporter with access to government representatives in Caracas.

Having exhausted appeals made through official channels prior to leaving for Venezuela, however, the Press Council suggests the reporter could have used the warm recommendations from the Washington embassy and old-fashioned door knocking in a further effort to get to government spokespersons.

In upholding the complaint, the Council says that despite efforts to provide balance through interviews with ordinary Venezuelans, it regards the lack of official comment as a significant deficiency.