2007年VOA标准英语-Venezuela TV Closing Raises Fears About Press F

By Brian Wagner
Lima
23 May 2007

Venezuela's government is pressing ahead with plans to strip the public broadcasting license¹ of a critical television station. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports the decision has sparked public protests and concerns about press freedom in the country.

opposition2-aligned television station, Radio Caracas Television, RCTV, in Caracas, Saturday, 19 May 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070607/0816050.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Demonstrators march in support of opposition-aligned television station, Radio Caracas Television, RCTV, in Caracas, 19 May 2007

Thousands of Venezuelans held street protests in Caracas this week  to defend a television station that is to be taken off public airwaves in coming days. Supporters of Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, say it is being targeted for broadcasting opposition views and fierce criticism of the nation's government.

Venezuelan officials are refusing to renew RCTV's broadcasting license when it expires on Sunday, and say a new station will take its place. The government has accused RCTV of violating a variety of public decency³ rules and say it backed a failed coup⁴ against President Hugo Chavez in 2002. RCTV executives deny the coup charges.

Speaking Tuesday, President Hugo Chavez, suggested the decision to replace RCTV is in line with his government's socialist⁵ goals.

He said that television station now belongs to all the Venezuelan people, and will be called Venezuelan Social Television.

Officials say the new station will include programs made by community groups and independent producers, which will not be controlled by officials.

Several press freedom and human rights groups have expressed concern about the lack of transparency about the decision to force RCTV off the air. A team from the Committee to Protect Journalists met with Venezuelan officials earlier this year to discuss the allegations against RCTV, including claims of backing the 2002 coup.

Carlos Lauria, Americas program coordinator⁶ for the press group, said officials were reluctant to document the allegations against the station.

"We came to the conclusion that the government's decision was taken beforehand, was pre-determined, and it was clearly politically motivated," he said.

Lauria says that several television stations have been accused of backing the 2002 coup, by collaborating⁷ with coup plotters or slanting⁸ their coverage⁹ against the government. He says RCTV is being singled out now, because it has failed to tone down its criticism as other stations have done in recent years.

Rafael Lima, a former television reporter in Latin America, says the threat against RCTV is reminiscent of press crackdowns by Cuba and other authoritarian¹⁰ governments.

"They are going to use any excuse to shut down any opposing press. It's just the blue print of those governments," he said.

Latin America experts often compare the social and economic reforms engineered by President Chavez to the policies of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The comparison in this case may be unfair, says John Virtue¹¹, director of Florida International University's International Media Center, which helps train independent Cuban journalists.

"Castro's crackdown was very, very brutal," Virtue said. "And of course this has not happened in Venezuela, because the print press has not been touched."

Virtue says Venezuela continues to have a vibrant¹² written press that embraces a variety of opposition and pro-government views.

Television remains¹³ the dominant¹⁴ medium in Venezuela, however, and the decision against RCTV shows the kind of power that the government wields¹⁵. Carlos Lauria says the threat to strip broadcasting licenses¹⁶ has had a profound impact on the media environment.

"If you talk to journalists working for the private media, they will say there is no freedom of expression and the government is restricting any kind of coverage. If you talk to journalists working for the state media you will hear a completely different story," he said.

Lauria says that state-run broadcasting is seeing its influence rise under President Chavez, which he says only serves to exacerbate¹⁷ tensions with private media.

It is unclear if RCTV will continue to fight the government's decision after its broadcasting license expires Sunday. Authorities have said RCTV may be free to continue its broadcasts on cable television, where the station is likely to have a fraction of the viewers it has had on public airwaves.

1 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

4 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

5 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

8 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

11 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

12 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

15 wields   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• She wields enormous power within the party. 她操纵着党内大权。
• He remains chairman, but wields little power at the company. 他还是主席，但在公司没有什么实权了。

16 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

17 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。