The Listening Post

Venezuela’s Maduro: Fighting a losing media war?

Protests in the streets and a battle of media narratives in Venezuela. Plus, the Greek newspaper with nine lives.

On The Listening Post this week: Protests in the streets of Venezuela and a battle of narratives in the media. Plus, the Greek newspaper few thought would survive.

Venezuela: The battle over news coverage 

With pressure intensifying for Venezuela’s government, President Nicolas Maduro is tightening the screws on the media yet again. He is also encouraging his supporters to take their message online, but the battle to control the cyber narrative is no easier there.

On our radar:

  • The Washington Post goes against its own source and says US President Barack Obama should not pardon the actions of whistleblower Edward Snowden.
  • Mexico remains one of the most deadly places for journalists as two more reporters were killed in just three days.
  • The Guardian newspaper’s announcement to cut more jobs in the US comes just over a month after heavy job losses at its UK operation.

Ef Syn: The journalists’ paper

In 2011, Greece’s most influential left-leaning daily Eleftherotypia went bankrupt. But out of that paper’s ashes rose another publication – Efimerida ton Syntakton – a cooperative owned by its journalists, not by a corporation.

Few thought it would last. But four years on, in a country where trust in the media is in ruins, Ef Syn’s circulation continues to rise.