Following Maduro’s July 28 election fraud and the subsequent crackdown on dissent, reporting from Venezuela has become increasingly complicated. Sources are silent. Journalists are forced to work anonymously, sometimes in secret, and must keep their identities secret for fear of government retaliation. Social media accounts have gone silent. And key parts of the country’s news ecosystem, such as X (formerly Twitter), have been blocked.
Given the many stories to tell, over a dozen independent media outlets have joined forces in a joint initiative: the Venezuela Vota and #LaHoradeVenezuela initiatives (you may have seen that some of our articles were published with the names of the two authors). The idea is to pool resources. But keep in mind that the traditional media in Venezuela – major newspapers, TV and radio stations – are somewhat controlled by the government, so independent media – mostly small online platforms (except for the analogue ElBusTV) – have to get creative.
Enter Operación Retuit, which presents short social media videos summarizing the initiative’s reporting. The catch is that these videos are hosted by two AI avatars, La Chama and El Pana. You may remember that a year ago there were government-sponsored campaigns using AI moderators to spread fake news. Now Venezuelan journalists are using AI to report verified news and avoid persecution. What’s good for the Pavo is good for the Pavo.
It’s not like you could throw AI reporters in a prison cell at Helicoide – perhaps the only use case where editors and journalists would like to be replaced by robots.
The first episode of Operación Retuit was released today:
It contains information about the government’s crackdown on post-election protests, which left at least 23 people dead and over 1,000 arbitrary arrests. It also contains information about a possible digital summit between the presidents of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil with Maduro, where they will try to find a diplomatic solution, and about the impact of the current crisis on the economy.
Venezuela Vota was created by 12 media outlets in the run-up to the July 28 elections to share news across the board while limiting individual risk for journalists. Its first major success was a 36-hour livestream of election coverage led by El Pitazo, showcasing the work of 50 independent journalists, 30 reporters across Venezuela, and over 300 activists.
#LaHoradeVenezuela is an initiative coordinated by Connectas to help expand the reach of quality reporting from Venezuela, where the government has blocked over 50 digital media channels.
