La Patilla

La Patilla

Logo of La Patilla
Web address www.lapatilla.com
Slogan Noticias, Información e Investigación sobre Venezuela y el mundo.
Type of site
 News site
Registration None
Available in Spanish
Users 3.0 million (monthly, May 2014)[1]
Owner Alberto Federico Ravell
Editor David Moran
Launched June 11, 2010
Alexa rank
 Increase 1,632 / 6 (Global / Venezuela, April 2014)
Current status Active

La Patilla is an anti-Bolivarian government[2][3] news website that was founded by Alberto Federico Ravell, co-founder and former CEO of Globovisión, in 2010. The website is based out of Venezuela and according to Alexa, it is one of the top 2,000 websites visited in the world and among the top visited in Venezuela.[4] It is also one of top visited news websites in Venezuela, ranked more popular than El Universal, Globovisión and El Nacional.[5] La Patilla has hundreds of thousands of visitors reading daily.[6]

History

La Patilla was created by co-founder and former CEO of Globovisión, Alberto Federico Ravell. In 2010, the majority shareholders of the television station asked for the resignation of the directors of Globovision which included Ravell.[7] On 11 June 2010, Ravell then created the news website, La Patilla.

Reception

In 2015, La Patilla was one of the most popular websites in Venezuela, more popular than Twitter and any other news website.[8] The only websites that were more popular in Venezuela were YouTube, Amazon, Google and Facebook.[8] According to media protection organizations, Venezuelans "have been forced to find alternatives as newspapers and broadcasters struggle with state efforts to control coverage", with a growing trend of Venezuelans using online news media to bypass government censors.[3] Journalists and press-freedom advocates also state that news websites like La Patilla "have helped fill a gap" since those linked to the Venezuelan government had purchased media organizations in Venezuela, such as El Universal, Globovisión and Ultimas Noticias.[3] In an article by The Wall Street Journal discussing the rising popularity of news websites in Venezuela, La Patilla CEO Alberto Federico Ravell stated that, "The editorial line of La Patilla is to call it like it is ... We don't need paper. We don't need a broadcasting license. There's little they can do to squeeze us."[3]

Demographics

La Patilla is primarily visited by those who are college educated or are currently being collegiately educated. One of the primary browsing locations for users is at school.[4]

Blockage by Venezuelan Government

On 17 May 2012, La Patilla was covering violent clashes occurring at a Venezuelan prison, La Planta, through a live stream video feed. However, visitors of La Patilla reported that the website was experiencing "irregularities" and thought it was just technical problems. Later it was discovered that La Patilla was blocked by the government-run CANTV. CANTV blocked La Patilla's original IP address and after La Patilla changed its IP address, CANTV blocked it again. Readers of La Patilla criticized the blockage by CANTV saying it was a "violation of their right to information". Readers also assumed the blockage by the government was due to the coverage of the prison clashes.[9][10][11] David Moran, editor of La Patilla stated that "Censorship has been multidimensional against us".[6]

References

  1. ↑ "lapatilla.com". Quantcast. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "Venezuela: Freedom On The Net". Freedom on the Net 2013. Freedom House. 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Minaya, Ezequiel (7 September 2014). "Venezuela's Press Crackdown Stokes Growth of Online Media". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "lapatilla.com". Alexa. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Top Sites in Venezuela". Alexa. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Maria Delgado, Antonio (30 April 2014). "Nicolás Maduro busca poner cerrojo a la internet en Venezuela". El Nuevo Herald. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Alberto Federico Ravell sale de la directiva de Globovisión, El Nacional".
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Top Sites in Venezuela". Alexa. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Cantv, proveedor de internet del Estado venezolano, bloquea portal de noticias La Patilla". Noticias Montreal. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Cantv bloquea la página web La Patilla". Globovision. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Lapatilla.com denuncia bloqueo a usuarios en Cantv". El Mundo. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2014.