Nelson Bocaranda

Nelson Bocaranda Sardi (born 18 April 1945[1]) is a Venezuelan television commentator, columnist, investigative journalist,[2] and founder of the Runrunes website.

Early life and education

Bocaranda was born in Boconó, Venezuela on 18 April 1945[1] as the oldest of five children of Alfredo Bocaranda González and Italia Sardi Consalvi de Bocaranda.[3] Of Spanish and Italian ancestry, Bocaranda's grandfather was a storekeeper and his father was a pharmacist.[3] The family moved to Caracas when Nelson was two, and he grew up in the San Bernardino area of the city.[3] He was educated at La Salle de la Colina, graduating in 1962; his interest in reading was inspired by his grandmother, and he was encouraged by one of his Catholic teachers to become a journalist.[3]

Before he finished his secondary education, Bocaranda began studying journalism at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello; [3] he began working for the television station Venevisión under Óscar Yanes, who was his journalism professor.[4] During his university tenure, Bocaranda worked for various radio stations in Caracas, including Radio Aeropuerto, Radio Capital, Radio Continente and KYS-FM.[4]

Career

Radio, television and newspaper

Bocaranda left Venevisión to work for Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) in the early 1980s, returning to Venevisión in 1988.[4] In 1989, he worked as a foreign correspondent for Venezolana de Televisión in New York.[4] During the 1990s, he had a political opinion show on Venevisión called Vox Populi;[4][5] A puerta cerrada and En confianza were other popular television shows he moderated.[6][7] By 1996, Bocaranda held primetime television broadcasts in Caracas.[8]

Bocaranda returned to late night television at VIVOplay in 2015 following a long absence from regular television.[7]

On Unión Radio, Bocaranda had a weekday show, Los Runrunes de Nelson or The Rumors of Nelson, which began in 1998.[4] Bocaranda also wrote columns for several Venezuelan newspapers.[4]

Runrunes, Twitter and Chávez's cancer
Further information: Censorship in Venezuela

Described as a pro-opposition journalist,[9][10] Bocaranda has criticized both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, and their governments.[11] Los Runrunes de Nelson was cancelled in 2009 after the Venezuelan government reportedly said that it would revoke Unión Radio's license if Bocaranda's criticism was allowed to continue on air.[12] The following year, Bocaranda and his son created the Runrunes website.[13] Janan Abanhassan and Andrés Cañizález wrote in the Comunicación: estudios venezolanos de comunicación journal in 2016 that the website was born from the censorship that forced Bocaranda off the radio; they named Bocaranda as a "leader of public opinion in Venezuela" for "becoming the spokesperson for the truth, for disseminating the information under investigative support and for having trust and credibility in Venezuelan society".[13]

Bocaranda was the first to reveal Chávez's 2011 cancer diagnosis.[9][14][15] Contrary to Article 143 of the 2009 Constitution of Venezuela, which disallows censorship of information about public officers,[16] and with the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election looming,[17] there were no precise medical reports, and information about Chávez's health was "tightly controlled by him and the closest members of his Government" according to Carolina Acosta-Alzuru in the 2016 book, Health Communication in the Changing Media Landscape.[18] On 9 May, Chávez cancelled a trip, saying he had knee pain, and on 10 June, Maduro stated that Chávez had surgery in Havana, Cuba for a pelvic abscess.[2] The government continued to deny concerns about Chávez's health when, on 25 June, Bocaranda revealed that Chávez had cancer.[2][19] Until that time, information about Chávez's health was held secret by the government;[9][12][14][15] Chávez's diagnosis was confirmed by government officials the day after Bocaranda revealed it.[2][14][15] Alzuru writes that the secrecy was because Chávez's "close allies suspected that no other chavista would be able to win elections as easily as Chávez did. That is why they played the card of a recuperating Chávez in charge until the very end", while investigative journalists "filled the information vacuum", being the first to report information based on "sources they had cultivated for decades", which resulted in them being "maligned by Government officials who denied their stories, only to have them confirmed a few days later by Chavez himself".[20]

Bocaranda's revelation, which was followed by others as Chávez's illness progressed,[21] resulted in him receiving more widespread recognition than at any time in his career.[9][15] According to El Estímulo, in 2015, younger people were more likely to recognize him as "The Father of Venezelan Twitter", in contrast to older people who remember him more as a moderator of several television shows.[7] Bocaranda's Twitter account is described as a "must read" by BBC Mundo[14] and Reuters;[9] he had 2,600 Twitter followers in 2009,[7] 570,000 followers in 2012,[14] 1.97 million by 2015 (compared then to Maduro's 2.35 million),[11] and more than 3 million in 2021.[22]

Bocaranda's Twitter was hacked in 2016 and the hackers used the account to Tweet that Bocaranda acknowledged being a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) puppet.[23]

Responses

In response to Bocaranda reporting June 2009 rumors that BBVA Provincial would be sold, El País published that the "Venezuelan branch of BBVA today denied ... the 'irresponsible' rumors spread by journalist Nelson Bocaranda, on his radio program Runrunes", adding that "this information has already been denied both in the Runrunes program" and by another agency that reported it.[24]

The Venezuelan Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS – Press and Society Institute) issued a report in 2013 on pressure directed by the judicial system at journalists who were critical of the government, listing as one of the cases a court summons to Bocaranda after he revealed the cancer diagnosis of Chávez which stated that Bocaranda had been "associated with acts of violence after the April 14 elections".[25]

Bocaranda was described in 2011 and 2012 Wall Street Journal articles as a "prominent"[26] and "respected Venezuelan columnist".[27] In 2015, the Spanish newspaper Ideal described Bocaranda as a "veteran" and "the most popular journalist in Venezuela", citing his Twitter followers, adding that "different spheres of the Venezuelan government" said Bocaranda worked for the CIA due to his reports on Chávez's illness; the allegations have never been substantiated.[11]

In 2011, Bocaranda was identified in a WikiLeaks leaked cable from the Embassy of the United States, Caracas titled "Colombian Guerrillas Reportedly Met with GRBV Officials in Caracas";[28] Bocaranda later acknowledged and published a Spanish translation of the cable.[29][30] The cable details information reported to Bocaranda by his sources which he told to Patrick Duddy, the United States Ambassador to Venezuela[29] and was also reported in his columns.[30] In the cable, embassy staff wrote that Bocaranda said that sources had told him that Colombian guerrillas had met with high-level Venezuelan officials.[29] According to the Associated Press, Bocaranda responded to the concerns about the danger the WikiLeaks placed others in, saying that while he felt betrayed, speaking with diplomats is part of being a journalist, and "I think the ones who have been betrayed basically are the American diplomats."[29] On Runrunes, Bocaranda wrote, "Those who believe that this will inhibit me from continuing to visit diplomatic sources ... are mistaken."[30] He described a friendship with Ambassador Duffy as both of their wives are breast cancer survivors; he stated that as a journalist, he frequently meets and talks with "businessmen, officials, soldiers or ambassadors", including at receptions and events at many embassies.[30]

Awards

Bocaranda received various awards in Venezuela. He was awarded the Municipal Prize in Journalism in 1965 and 1967.[1] He was awarded the National Prize of Journalism from the Fundación Premio Nacional de Periodismo (National Journalism Award Foundation) in 1985,[1][6][14] and the Monseñor Pellín Award from the Episcopal Conference of Venezuela,[4][14][31] recognized in the latter's Person of the Year category in 2019.[31]

Publications
  • El Poder de los Secretos [The Power of Secrets] (2015) with Diego Arroyo Gil, Planeta de Venezuela, ISBN 978-9802715480

References
  1. Gil_Guzmán 1994, p. 132.
  2. Acosta-Alzuru 2016, p. 138.
  3. Socorro, Milagros (4 August 2012). "Por cierto… Autobiografía de Nelson Bocaranda, recogida por Milagros Socorro" [By the way… Autobiography of Nelson Bocaranda, collected by Milagros Socorro]. milagrossocorro.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  4. "Nelson Bocaranda". Venevisión. 3 August 2001. Archived from the original on 3 August 2001. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  5. "Nelson Bocaranda: 'Nada quiere tener problemas con el gobierno'" [Nelson Bocaranda: No one wants to have problems with the government]. producto.com.ve (in Spanish). 31 July 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  6. "Venezuelan Press: Nelson Bocaranda". Venezuelan Press (in European Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  7. "Nelson Bocaranda vuelve delante de las cámaras" [Nelson Bocaranda returns in front of the cameras] (in Spanish). El Estímulo. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  8. Martinez, Tomas Eloy (26 September 1996). "Latin America's crime wave". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. p. 11B. Fine Brazilian magazines such as Veja or Isto E, as well as TV programs with mass audiences – for example, those hosted by Mariano Grondona in Buenos Aires or Nelson Bocaranda in Caracas – are devoting their front pages or prime-time broadcasts to these topics.
  9. Cawthorne, Andrew (8 March 2012). "Venezuelan journalist in eye of Chavez cancer storm". Reuters. Retrieved 7 June 2023. With a daily drip-drip of rumors and details about Chavez's condition, the openly pro-opposition Bocaranda has garnered more than 670,000 followers ... Bocaranda's investigative work on Chavez's health has brought him more fame than at any point in a half-century media career spanning back to when he was 16
  10. Mazotte, Natalia (14 March 2012). "Opposition journalist in Venezuela alleges plot to damage his reputation". LatAm Journalism Review by the Knight Center. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  11. Barrera, Javier F. (20 June 2015). "'En Venezuela se ha restringido la libertad y con Twitter hemos crecido'" ['En Venezuela liberty has been restricted and with Twitter we have grown']. Ideal (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 August 2023. ... uno de los periodistas venezolanos más populares de su país, crítico con los gobiernos de Chávez y Maduro ... Es el periodista más popular en Venezuela, con 1,97 millones de seguidores en Twitter ... A sus 70 años, este veterano periodista vive en la cresta de la ola de su carrera profesional, ya que fue el primero en informar [que] Hugo Chávez, se encontraba en enfermo. Esto provocó que desde diferentes esferas del gobierno venezolano se le acusara de trabajar para la CIA, algo que nunca se pudo demostrar. Fue crítico con Chávez y lo es con su sucesor, Nicolás Maduro.
    [... one of the most popular Venezuelan journalists in his country, critical of the Chávez and Maduro governments ... He is the most popular journalist in Venezuela, with 1.97 million followers on Twitter ... At 70 years, this veteran journalist lives on the crest of the wave of his professional career, since he was the first to report [that] Hugo Chávez was ill. This caused different spheres of the Venezuelan government to accuse him of working for the CIA, something that could never be proven. He was critical of Chávez and is critical of his successor, Nicolás Maduro.
  12. Primera, Maye (26 June 2014). "Venezuela's journalists migrate online to escape government censorship". El Pais. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  13. Abanhassan, Janan; Cañizález, Andrés (2016). "Nelson Bocaranda Sardi como líder de la opinión pública en Venezuela" [Nelson Bocaranda Sardi as leader of public opinion in Venezuela] (PDF). Comunicación: estudios venezolanos de comunicación (in Spanish) (174): 13–19. ISSN 0798-1856. ... portal web del periodista Nelson Bocaranda Sardi nace por un hecho de censura que sufre dicho periodista, y se ve en la obligación de salir del aire con su programa radial Runrunes ... es un líder en la opinión pública venezolana por convertirse en el vocero de la verdad, por difundir las informaciones bajo sustento investigativo y por poseer confianza y credibilidad en la sociedad venezolana.
  14. "Bocaranda: 'no digo mentiras' sobre la salud de Chávez" [Bocaranda: 'I don't tell lies' about Chávez's health]. BBC Mundo (in Spanish). 21 March 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2023. A los 66 años, el reconocido periodista venezolano Nelson Bocaranda ... Es así que su cuenta en Twitter, donde tiene más de 570.000 seguidores, se ha convertido en lectura obligada, especialmente luego de que el mes pasado lanzara la primicia sobre el nuevo viaje a La Habana de Chávez por la recurrencia del cáncer. Bocaranda dio la información, las autoridades lo desmintieron y al día siguiente Chávez, quien a los 57 años buscará en las elecciones de octubre un tercer mandato, lo confirmó.
    [At the age of 66, the renowned Venezuelan journalist Nelson Bocaranda... Thus, his Twitter account, where he has more than 570,000 followers, has become a must-read, especially after last month [when] he released the scoop on Chavez's new trip to Havana for the recurrence of cancer. Bocaranda gave the information, the authorities denied it and the next day Chávez, who at the age of 57 will seek a third term in the October elections, confirmed it.
  15. Forero, Juan (17 March 2012). "Venezuelans flock to columnist for news on Chavez cancer". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 August 2023. In June, he was the first to reveal that Chavez had cancer, which the president confirmed days later in a dramatic televised speech. Then, in the early morning hours of Feb. 20, Bocaranda issued a series of tweets reporting a recurrence of cancer, which Chavez confirmed the next day. That last scoop generated 80,000 more followers to @NelsonBocaranda, where he now has nearly 570,000 readers.
  16. Acosta-Alzuru 2016, pp. 136, 147.
  17. Acosta-Alzuru 2016, p. 149.
  18. Acosta-Alzuru 2016, p. 136.
  19. "Rompiendo el cerco informativo: Las verdades de la enfermedad del Presidente Chávez" [Breaking the information hedge: the truths of President Chávez's illness]. Runrunes (in Spanish). 25 June 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  20. Acosta-Alzuru 2016, pp. 148–149.
  21. Acosta-Alzuru 2016, pp. 138–139, 141–142.
  22. Puertas-Hidalgo, Rosario J.; Valdiviezo-Abad, Karen C.; Capro-Jimenez, Lilia K. (2021). "Twitter: análisis comparativo de los periodistas de Latinoamérica" [Twitter: comparative analysis of Latinamerican journalists] (PDF). Sistemas, Cibernetica e Informatica (in Spanish). 18 (1). ISSN 1690-8627.
  23. "El periodista venezolano Nelson Bocaranda denuncia hackeo en Twitter y robo de 2 millones de seguidores" [Venezuelan journalist Nelson Bocaranda denounces hacking on Twitter and theft of 2 million followers] (in Spanish). Univision. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  24. "La filial venezolana del BBVA desmiente los rumores de venta" [The Venezuelan subsidiary of BBVA denies rumors of sale]. El Pais (in Spanish). 22 June 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  25. Fernández, Nélida (11 August 2013). "IPYS acusa al sistema judicial de presionar a periodistas en Venezuela" [IPYS accuses the judicial system of pressuring journalists in Venezuela]. La Informacion (in Spanish). EFE. Retrieved 6 August 2023. La directora ejecutiva del Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) en Venezuela, Marienela Balbi, advirtió de que en este país se usa el sistema judicial para aplicar 'mecanismos sutiles' que tienen como objetivo censurar y 'asfixiar' a los medios de comunicación que mantienen una línea crítica hacia el Gobierno. ... El informe del IPYS incluye además la citación a tribunales el mes pasado al periodista Nelson Bocaranda, conocido dentro y fuera del país por haber dado reportes no oficiales sobre la salud del fallecido presidente Hugo Chávez y a quien el Gobierno asoció a los hechos de violencia tras las elecciones del 14 de abril.
    [The executive director of the Press and Society Institute (IPYS) in Venezuela, Marienela Balbi, warned that in this country the judicial system is used to apply 'subtle mechanisms' that aim to censor and 'suffocate' the media that maintain a critical line towards the Government. ... The IPYS report also includes the summons to court last month of the journalist Nelson Bocaranda, known inside and outside the country for having given unofficial reports on the health of the late President Hugo Chávez and whom the Government associated with acts of violence after the April 14 elections.
  26. Luhnow, David; Minaya, Ezequiel (30 June 2011). "Health woes cause Chávez to postpone key summit". The Wall Street Journal. p. A1. Nelson Bocaranda, a prominent Venezuelan newspaper columnist, has reported that the cancer has spread to other organs and that the president is undergoing radiation therapy in Havana.
  27. Minaya, Ezequiel; de Cordoba, Jose (7 April 2012). "An ailing Chavez prays for time – Venezuela leader appeals to Christ for his life at mass; reports say he'll seek treatment in Brazil". The Wall Street Journal. p. A11. Still, Nelson Bocaranda, a respected Venezuelan columnist ... Last June, Mr. Bocaranda was the first journalist to say that Mr. Chavez had been operated on for cancer in Cuba. In February, Mr. Bocaranda was the first to say that Mr. Chavez' cancer had returned and he would undergo another operation in Cuba.
  28. Colombian Guerrillas Reportedly Met with Grbv Officials in Caracas (Report). Embassy of the United States, Caracas. 20 November 2009.
  29. "AP review of released WikiLeaks documents raises doubts on scope of danger". Cleveland.com. Associated Press. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  30. "Wikileaks me cita en cable cifrado del embajador estadounidense" [Wikileaks quotes me in encrypted cable from the US ambassador]. Runrunes (in Spanish). 12 September 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  31. Salomón, Luisa (17 October 2019). "Prodavinci recibió el Premio Monseñor Pellín 2019 al Reportaje Web del año" [Prodavinci received the Monsignor Pellín 2019 Award for Web Report of the Year]. Prodavinci (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2023.

Book sources
  • Acosta-Alzuru, Carolina (2016). "No News is Bad News: Examining the Discourse Around Hugo Chávez's Illness". In Vemula, R.; Gavaravarapu, S. (eds.). Health Communication in the Changing Media Landscape. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 135–157. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-33539-1_8. ISBN 978-3319815404.
  • Gil Guzmán, Rosamelia (1994). Figuras sobresalientes de la comunicación social: un perfil de ejemplaridad de los comunicadores [Outstanding figures of social communication: an exemplary profile of communicators] (in Spanish). Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.
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