III Pan-American Communication Congress
Buenos Aires was the continental meeting venue whose
motto was "Commercial integration or cultural dialogue in the face of
the challenge of the Information Society".
From the 12 to the 16 of July, in the Faculty of Law 1550 participants were enrolled, with 339 papers presented, divided in 62 chairs, 8 thematic panels and 4 workshops in which assistants from all of Latin America, Spain, the United States, Canada and France participated. The Congress discussed the problems related to politics, the economy and communication in the 25 years since the Mac Bride report.
The congress had two previous editions: the first in the Canadian city of Montreal ´02 and the second in the Mexican city of Zacatecas ´03.
The Faculty of the University of Buenos Aires, 20 years after the creation of the Degree in Communication Sciences, was the host of these meetings.
Communication and Public Television
One of the most popular workshops was that promoted by the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO). The panellists were Emilio Taddei Academic Coordinator of FLACSO, Blanca Eekhout Director of Venezolana de Television (VTV) and Ana de Skalon, Director of Channel 7 of Argentina and Glenn Postolski from the Degree in Communication Sciences of the UBA.
The political process of state media was one of the recurring themes, and there was consensus in that the measures taken by Kirchner´s government entailing the extending licenses for another 10 years benefits the large communication businesses and hinders media diversity.
Ana de Skalon told how state television "is a screen in dispute, not only over the content of the programming, and its internal method of production, and their relation with other channels that are public but in private hands".
She defined the 90s decade as an infamous decade, especially because the neo-liberal method was imposed in the administration of the state channel, Sofovich created the model of the production company outside the channel which produced the creation of cheap labour and broke the chain of occupation.
"Channel 7 works with technology dating back to 1978, and the cameras work because they are German", illustrated the official employee.
She told about "Digital Print" and "Life and Return" which are programmes that try to show the hidden Argentina. She referred to the experience of Vision 7 and the subsequent conflict which caused the intervention of the channel that took it off the air. What surprised her was that no one complained about this arbitrary measure.
"A public channel doesn't exist on its own, a communication policy from Argentine society is necessary; governments are temporary, like my stay in the channel".
Blanca Eekhout told of her prolific experience in Venezuelan alternative television, since its beginnings in CAPIA TV, were they had the slogan "Don't watch TV, make it", motivating people to take a camera and film. "A micro exercise in power".
In spite of some changes driven by the Bolivarian government, Blanca E. explained that they live in a media dictatorship which became evident with the attempted coup of 2002, with the coverage of the 65 days of petroleum strike and the call for civil war from the television screens.
Blanca E. told the details of how the media worked and showed a Saudi image of Venezuela, full of Misses and were consumption was encouraged, were in order to be one had to have.
There was an "inexistent" population of mestizos, afro-descendents that lived in the "cords of misery" of Caracas, they had no documents and were a majority.
In the "Caracazo" of 1989, when the population couldn't bear the rise in public transport and there was collective disobedience, officially 300 people were killed, but since many lacked documents, it is speculated that they were over one thousand.
The media applauded the massacre and sought to justify it, and here a rupture was produced, the media spell was broken; it became evident that the media was part of the system.
In 1992 a military uprising took place, the plan failed and in order to surrender completely, the rebels asked for a few minutes on the network to inform the population of their decision to surrender.
There you see a military mestizo, indigenous, black, or mixed, young, and that assumes responsibility for the uprising and promises the advent of better times.
Hugo Chavez Frias is defeated but is able to connect to the Venezuelan majority. This connection materialises when he beats an ex Miss Universe in the presidential elections.
Another important moment was the attempted overthrow through the coup in 2002, a mediatic repression is seen, and a mediatic montage is planned to justify the coup.
But an "affective communication" took place since the Venezuelan population went out into the streets and didn't move, in Maracaibo the following sign could be read "give us back our madman".
It was a love defence, more than a president he had been able to become like a brother, there was an emotional connection.