To be informed in Venezuela: a qualitative study in Caracas and Todasana between urban and rural residents (April 2019)

Abstract

Censorship, pressures, persecutions and the sale of local media to government-related businessmen, despite the fact that they led to the emergence of new digital media, have also severely impaired citizens' ability to be informed. Given this complex and changing scenario we wanted to know the informative routines of the current Venezuelan: investigate their habits of news consumption, explore sources and means of consumption of informative content, perception about censorship / self-censorship, identify the main media and influencers; as well as investigate the ways in which they filter the information they consume in the face of the potential presence of fake news, rumors and misinformation. For this, we implemented a qualitative methodology between inhabitants of Greater Caracas (urban area) and inhabitants of the town of Todosana (rural area). It is observed that the levels of disinformation that the participants showed are high and with a tendency to deepen. The lower the socioeconomic level and the higher the age, the more frequent victims of false news, incomplete and / or biased information that hinder their own information process. As for the state media and its informative menu, the undeniable fracture with citizenship and the unstoppable loss of credibility is palpable. The SIBCI controls the information, but without the credibility of the citizens.