Democratically Elected Caudillo”

Western Media Coverage on Venezuela and the Era Chávez – Empirical Insights from Germany

Bibliographic Data

ID12909804
AuthorsRegina Cazzamatta (0000-0002-7162-3219, University of Erfurt, corresponding author), Alan Jhones Da Silva Santos (0000-0002-9574-3776, University of Erfurt)
Year2023
Volume19
Issue5
Pages1131-1153
Publication date2023-07-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-2786 • E-ISSN: 1751-2794
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17512786.2023.2232770
OpenAlexW4383549975
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited57

This article aims to identify structural trends in the German media coverage of Venezuela. While very few studies on the topic have been conducted within liberal media systems (the UK and the US), this paper focuses on the German democratic corporatist model. Based on a longitudinal mixed methods approach ­– a quantitative content analysis of the German quality press (SZ, FAZ, taz, and Der Spiegel) over 15 years, combined with a qualitative inductive frame analysis –, we identified a classic pattern of foreign reporting: limited thematic agenda, conflict orientation, negativity, and a possible strong influence of news agencies. Except for the link-oriented alternative taz, the German media portrayed Chávez highly negatively and crisis-oriented. Noteworthy is that only 17% of the total coverage on Venezuela was produced on-site. The fact that we observed similar frames produced by different media systems (the UK, US, and DE), a comparable thematic limitation with a strong focus on political issues, and the disregard of positive developments, such as the report on social programs, might be an indicator of a solid thematic orientation to Western global news agencies

Biology and political orientation · Content analysis · Democracy · Geography · German · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Qualitative research · Social media · Social science · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Thematic map · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Media and Politics

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