If the majority of Americans are unaware of the pending collapse of Venezuela, blame the Big Three (CBS, NBC, and ABC). They have yet to cover the economic catastrophe that’s unfolding in a nation that once prided itself as a beacon of 21st Century Socialism. Low oil prices and left wing social programs have brought on what’s increasingly becoming a humanitarian crisis that’s impacting every aspect of the country’s socioeconomic sphere. It’s truly awful. Donald Trump may have attacked Telemundo and Univision, but they have done a much better job reporting on Venezuela’s disastrous conditions. The Media Research Center crunched the numbers and found that the Hispanic news networks had between 26 to 33 minutes of coverage for the month of May, while ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News have only mentioned Venezuela in reference to the Zika virus:
Unlike their English-language counterparts at ABC, CBS and NBC, however, between May 1-23 America’s top Spanish-language television networks, Univision and Telemundo, have dedicated 33 reports and nearly an hour of coverage to the convulsive developments in one of the world’s leading oil-producing countries. And unlike both Spanish-language television networks’ coverage of domestic U.S political developments, which tends to favor the liberal Obama administration, the dominant narrative in Univision and Telemundo’s coverage of Venezuela has been decidedly hostile to the Socialist government in power.While ABC, CBS and NBC have ignored the economic disaster in Venezuela, all three networks have only mentioned Venezuela in their coverage in the context of the Zika virus outbreak. Meanwhile, during the May 1-23 period under study, the top Spanish-language television network in the U.S., Univision, dedicated over 30 minutes of coverage to the ongoing political and social crisis in Venezuela. Almost 15 minutes of that time took place during Univision’s Sunday public affairs show, Al Punto, including an interview with Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles.
Specifically, Univision and Telemundo have shown their viewers the severe shortages of basic necessities like food, medicine and personal hygiene products, riots and looting around the country, as well as growing clashes between state security forces and demonstrators seeking to remove Maduro from power. This sample from Telemundo below is indicative of the coverage.