Escuchar para creer: La radio de servicio publico y la Iglesia Catolica en Venezuela

Abstract

This article explores the nature and extent of the delivery of Public Service Broadcasting by alternative models and actors in Latin America. The main hypothesis is that PSB is delivered in Venezuela not by the state but by other actors, in this case the Roman Catholic Church. This is of particular importance in current times when not only is the nature of PSB under revision in Western Europe but in which its universal values can no longer be taken for granted. In looking at the case of the Instituto Radiofonico Fe y Alegría (IRFA) we argue that, contrary to what might be expected, these media outlets do not only concentrate in evangelisation, but in some cases provide what by all standards can be described as Public Service Broadcasting. Our initial assumption was that radio networks such as IRFA deliver content that not only deliver the Reithian principle triad of ‘education, information and entertainment’ but incorporate related PSB values in the context of their own realities.