The English Landing Page for Ciudadano TeleSUR
It wasn’t until I started to do background research for this Ciudadano TeleSUR that I realized that I’m a little late to the party when it comes to making this a talking point. Caracas Chronicles wrote an article about Ciudadano TeleSUR shortly before the 10th anniversary of TeleSUR’s founding, April 17th, 2016.
His article goes into the some of the background of Argentinean President Mauricio Macri ceasing to financially support of TeleSUR and TeleSUR English and how it’s effecting morale there. This article deals with something else entirely and to be frank I think the author, Gustavo Hernandez, missed the mark on what was important about the video and the project. That’s understandable, however, as my concern is with the interconnection between aesthetics, politics and technics.
The Advertisement for Why People Should Donate to TeleSUR
You can watch the video of Patricia Villegas making an appeal for money above, or quickly read the subtitles, in the original Spanish or in the English, below.
Spanish Subtitles
Telesur nació como una alternative informativa independiente dispuesta a comunicar lo que otros no quieren o multimedia y responsable con corresponsales en todo el mundo.
Hoy la misión de telesur está en riesgo hay gobernantes que no quieren escuchar la voz de nuestros pueblos.
Por razones políticas económicas prefieren callamos igual que los medios hegemónicos que responden a los intereses de las grandes corporaciones frente a las adversidades de su responde con la verdad con más participación y más democracia.
Por eso te invitamos a convertirse en un ciudadano de origen con su aporte continuaremos ofreciendo de las herramientas para que puedan discerner reclamar y construir todo lo recaudado será recortado transparentemente y conocerás lo que hemos logrado. Con su petición porque estar informado es tu derecho no un negocio de Telesur estamos comprometidos contigo y con la verdad y gracias a su colaboración seguiremos siendo la señal informativa de América.
English Translation
Telesur was born as an independent information alternative willing to communicate what others do not want or multimedia and responsible with correspondents around the world today
The mission of TeleSUR is at risk. There are rulers who do not want to hear the voice of our people.
Economic political reasons. They prefer to remain silent as the hegemonic media that respond to the interests of large corporations in the face of the adversities of their response with the truth with more participation and more democracy.
That is why we invite you to become a citizen supporter. With your contribution we will continue offering the tools so that they can discern claim and build all the proceeds will be cut transparently and you will know what we have achieved with your request because being informed is your right not a telesur business
We are committed to you and to the truth. Thanks to your collaboration we will continue being the informative signal of America
Ciudadano TeleSUR: What Proof?! is in the Pudding
I’ve When I heard Patricia Villegas of TeleSUR say that someone could simply give money and
My Email Exchange with Helga Malave
English Translation
Good morning Ariel,
Unfortunately this campaign did not have the expected response so it is no longer in circulation. We appreciate your interest but we are not receiving affiliations to Telesur Citizens.
Best regards,
Helga
I think it’s interesting to note that Helga’s response has does not answer the question that I asked: “what have previous donations paid for” nor does it even address it. Instead she tells me that the program is no longer on-going – which is unusual considering that the website is still up.
English Translation
Helga,
I’m sorry to hear that the campaign did not have the expected response. The mission of TeleSUR is good and something that I support.
Even though this program ended, I’m still curious about the transparency Patricia refers to in the video.
Could you provide me with the information you mention that is available upon request about the achievements of TeleSUR?
Thank you,
Ariel Sheen
After not receiving a response to this, I sent another query on March 7th.
After not receiving a response to my March 7th query, I sent one last one on March 9th, this time including questions related to the “benefits” that one was supposed to receive if they donated.
In English, the benefits are:
• Mailed a TeleSUR newsletter.
• Card that accredits you as a Citizen teleSUR.
• Invitation to special events when they take place in your city.
• Those who gett five friends to donate, will receive a flannel, T-shirt as special recognition.
• News about programming in advance.
If Information Is A Right, Why Can’t I Get It?
As a result of this exchange, I have so many questions, like
When Did Ciudadano TeleSUR End?!
Looking at the the most recent tweets it hasn’t been something that has been promoted in over a year and a half. So why was there still a subheader on the TeleSUR ENglish website for it that was still functional?!
This and what I talk about below really gets me thinking…
Was Ciudadano TeleSUR a Scam?!
Hard to say since they won’t provide:
- The information on when the fundraising drive ended.
- The information on how much they raised.
- The information on how many donations they received.
- The information on what the money was used for.
Contrast the transparency show here with this other funding drive for reporters. Here’s a link to the IndieGoGo page, and for when that’s taken down here’s a web archive file.
Below you can clearly see indications of all of the above.
Why is it that TeleSUR and TeleSUR English won’t be transparent about this information?
Ciudadano teleSUR? More like Ten Cuidado Con Telesur.