‘Everything is dimming out, little by little:’ examining self-censorship among Venezuelan journalists

ABSTRACT

Using the conceptual frameworks of professional reflexivity and collective professional autonomy, our in-depth interviews with 25 journalists from Venezuela show that years of anti-press violence have ensured an atmosphere where journalists self-censor as the norm and where, through different forms, self-censorship has become a part of news routines. Journalists, especially those with over ten years of experience, clearly distinguished between self-censorship and other forms of suppression, but self-censorship has become so prevalent and infused in daily news routines, and so deeply internalised and reinforced that younger journalists and recent entrants into the profession consider self-censorship an integral part of their professional identity.

KEYWORDS:

• Collective professional autonomy
• journalists
• Venezuela
• news media
• professionalism
• reflexivity
• censorship
• violence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paromita Pain

Paromita Pain is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research interests include global media and journalism practices. She can be reached at [email protected]. Phone number: 7373468957. Address: University of Nevada, Reno. Mail Stop 310, Reynolds School of Journalism, Reno, NV 89557.

Ezequiel Korin

Dr.Ezequiel Korin is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. His research interests include censorship and newsroom practices in Latin America. Phone number: 7062068705. Address: University of Nevada, Reno. Mail Stop 310, Reynolds School of Journalism, Reno, NV 89557.