''El Universal'' is a major
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
n newspaper, headquartered in
Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
.
[Browning, Mark (2003),]
Venezuela
, ''World Press Encyclopedia'' ''El Universal'' is part of the
Latin American Newspaper Association (Spanish, ''Periodicals Associates Latin-Americans''), an organization of leading newspapers in Latin America. Its main rival is ''
El Nacional.'' The newspaper does not disclose circulation figures.
[
]
History
''El Universal'' was founded in April 1909 in Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
by the Venezuelan poet Andrés Mata and his friend Andrés Vigas Andrés Jorge Vigas Syers (1848 - 11 September 1930) was a Venezuelan lawyer, journalist, essayist and politician.
He was born in Cumaná, the capital city of Sucre State, in eastern Venezuela.
He was held a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, repr ...
, being the oldest of current Venezuelan newspapers.[
]
20th century
Its first headquarters were located in a house between the corners of Sociedad and San Francisco de Caracas, where Daniel Aramburu's printing press worked. The first issue, which came out that same day, was published on Marinoni machines of French origin. The editors of this first issue were Rafael Silva in the chronicle
A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...
, Francisco López Moreno and Santiago Caldera in the distribution, Luis Correa who served as chronicler, Pedro Bocca as office manager, Luis Alberto Ascanio as depositor, Miguel Ángel Ibarra as a proofreader, and Federico Webber as press writer. The format of this first issue was broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...
, and had four pages in six columns. Six months later, the newspaper moved to an old building located between Sociedad and Gradillas streets.
In January 1910, the first photographs of the newspaper were published, one by Juan Vicente Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (24 July 1857 – 17 December 1935) was a Venezuelan military general, politician and '' de facto'' ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He only officially served as president on three occasions d ...
and another of a troop in the Plaza Bolívar in Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
, which Guerra Toro took. That same year, an electric blackboard indicated to the public the topics that would be reported the following day. The following year, a Duplex machine was acquired for editing, increasing its edition to eight pages. In 1914 he signed agreements with international news agencies such as the United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...
, Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
and Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, becoming the first Venezuelan newspaper to do so.
In 1922 the newspaper modernized its equipment, published the first economic notice, and incorporated Luis Teófilo Núñez into the company's administration. As of October 24, 1929, it incorporated "La Página de los Jueves" and "El Deporte Nacional", the first fixed spaces of the newspaper. On December 17, 1930, the first rotary printing press
A rotary printing press is a printing press in which the images to be printed are curved around a cylinder. Printing can be done on various substrates, including paper, cardboard, and plastic. Substrates can be sheet feed or unwound on a contin ...
in the country was installed, Ludlow brand, with which the newspaper began to be printed, on the memorial day of the centenary of the death of Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
. The edition of the newspaper would increase to 18 pages, to seven columns. In 1932 he acquired a HOE press, with a capacity of 32 pages.
As of August 14, 1933, a daily page dedicated exclusively to sports began to be published. In 1934, cartoons began to be published, and in 1935, Historias del Tío Nicolás, by cartoonist Rafael Rivero Oramas, began to be published. Later Important additions were the "Literary Page" from August 8, 1937, at the initiative of Pascual Venegas Filardo and Pedro Sotillo, and the "Editorial Page" from November 8, 1940.
In 1948 the newspaper changed its headquarters and moved to the basement of the Ambos Mundos Building. By then it already had equipment capable of editing 64 pages. In 1954 the Photography department was created, and on February 16, 1958 , after the fall of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, the People's Mail was created, where the opinions of the readers were published.
In 1969, El Universal moved to its current headquarters, a tower built on the corner of Ánimas, on Urdaneta Av. It was created by the architects Francisco Pimentel, George Wilkie and Bernardo Borges, who won the National Architecture Award in 1971. It is considered the essential structure carried out at that time. In 1970, another HOE Multicolor rotary printing press was acquired, with the capacity to edit 144 pages, with a speed of 70,000 copies per hour.
In March 1994, Andrés Mata Osorio, grandson of the newspaper's founder, became the editor of El Universal. In 1995, journalists and engineers from the newspaper, together with specialists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, launched the first edition digital version of the newspaper on the internet. Initially, ten headlines were published a day, and a year later, the full version of the website was published. In 1997, a new plant opened in Guatire
Guatire is a city in Miranda (state), Miranda, Venezuela. In 2006, its population has been estimated at 200,417. Today, Guatire has virtually merged with its neighbour, Guarenas forming the Guarenas-Guatire conurbation.
Located in Miranda Sta ...
with three rotary printing presses, with a capacity for twelve million copies a month. In 1998, the newspaper began to publish its photographs in color. In 1999, the newspaper made the first pre-sale by a media outlet in the country.
21st century
On July 4, 2014, the sale of El Universal to the Spanish company Espalisticia was announced. In that position until the year 2019.
The newspaper's board of directors is made up as follows: Vice President of Information: Elides J. Rojas L. (He resigned from the company, after almost 25 years of service, after having been editor-in-chief of Economics, Editor-in-Chief and for the last six years Vice President of Information) This position has been held since August 2020 by journalist Oscar Silva, who has worked for nine years with the group of owners of Globovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite (Globovisión has an alliance with Dir ...
, who assume the administrative and editorial direction of the newspaper, which, for now, only maintains its digital edition. Editor in Chief: Alan Lugo. Heads of Digital Information: Pedro Rojas and Mariángela Lando. Head of Art and Design: Abraham Sánchez. On November 1, 2020, the newspaper resumed its print edition as a weekly that is only published on Sundays.
Political stance and editorial opinion
On the morning of 13 April 2002, when the removal of Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
in what later came to be referred to as the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt appeared a success, the paper headlined ''¡Un Paso Adelante!'' (One Step Forward!).
The newspaper was described as pro-opposition by ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' in 2008, by the BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in 2013 and by Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
numerous times between 2011 and 2014.
On 5 July 2014, it was announced that after 105 years of ownership, the Mata family had sold a controlling stake in the newspaper to a Spanish investment firm linked to the Venezuelan government, Politician S.L., a firm that "was created with the purpose of acquiring" ''El Universal''.Shadowy sale of Venezuela paper raises fears of slow-building news blackout
/ref> According to the Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...
(CPJ), ''El Universal'' "cosied up to Venezuela's socialist government" following the purchase. The CPJ wrote that staff complained about censorship by their editors and that there had been firings and resignations at the newspaper.
See also
* List of newspapers in Venezuela
This is a list of newspapers in Venezuela, both national and regional. It also includes newspapers with other languages and themes.
National
Regional Anzoátegui state
Apure state
Aragua state
Barinas state
Bolívar state
Carabobo s ...
References
External links
*
*
English-language version
*
ICON: International Newspaper Database - ''El Universal'' search results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Universal
Newspapers established in 1909
Spanish-language newspapers
Newspapers published in Venezuela
Mass media in Caracas
Spanish-language websites