Accommodating Journalism in Authoritarian Political Regimes. The Interventionist and Loyal-Facilitator Roles in Cuba and Venezuela

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between accommodating journalism and journalistic roles in authoritarian regimes, focusing on Cuba and Venezuela. Through content analysis of news from influential media outlets in both countries, the study assesses professional roles including loyal facilitator, watchdog, civic, infotainment, service, and interventionist roles. In particular this study aims to measure the presence of the loyal-facilitator and interventionist roles in the media of Cuba and Venezuela; to explore potential differences between both countries; and to contrast whether media ownership influences the performance of interventionist and loyal facilitator roles. Findings show similar patterns, but they especially indicate significant differences between Cuba and Venezuela, with Cuban journalism showing higher prevalence of interventionist and loyal facilitator roles, while the other roles are more frequent in Venezuelan journalism. Media ownership can also influence the adoption of journalistic roles: while in Cuba accommodating discourses are not only dominant in state-owned media, in the case of Venezuela private and civil society media tend to show a more critical discourse compared to state-owned ones. These findings contribute to understanding journalistic roles in authoritarian regimes, supporting the existence of accommodating journalism in these contexts, but with a somewhat more independent journalism in Venezuela.