Saturday, June 02, 2007

Smart Mobs: YouTube as alternative media channel for Venezuela’s counter-revolution

Smart Mobs: YouTube as alternative media channel for Venezuela’s counter-revolution:

"After President Chavez performed one more attack on the press by cutting off Radio Caracas Television’s emitting channel, the former employees didn’t despair. Four days ago, they started their own channel on YouTube, El Observador, following an alternative path towards the freedom of speech and keeping alive the voice of the Venezuela’s opposition.

Though YouTube is still no match for over-the-air broadcast, it is likely to offer growing support for local televisions without media channel possibilities of reaching out large populations. El Observador was already watched over 244.000 times and has the greatest number of subscribers this week.

YouTube, known for its support for democracy and as a way to avoid censorship, making small or repressed voices heard, is starting to encounter problems with governments willing to control what they citizens see and hear. More in Ars Technica article."

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