The Washington Post | On buses and balconies, Venezuela’s citizen reporters take news to the people

Andrea Hernández Briceño

Visual storyteller and journalist based in Caracas, Venezuela

The interior of a home at La Dolorita barrio in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 26, 2022.

CARACAS, Venezuela — Darío Chacón was preparing to go live when he saw the report. The 61-year-old newsman turned to a younger colleague.

“There’s some last-minute information I just got on WhatsApp,” he told Joshua De Freitas. The claim was that Venezuela’s government had announced an unexpected increase in pensions. “We need to confirm this.”

De Freitas began making calls. Chacón, waiting, walked the alleys of the Caracas neighborhood of Barrio La Cruz, calling the neighbors: “Remember — the news is about to start.” A woman handed him a thermos of coffee through the bars of her ground-floor window. “Here you go,” she said. “Your cafecito.”
Read the full text written by Ana Vanessa Herrero and watch the video by Juan Velasquez and Luis Velarde at The Washington Post website.

Anchorman for El Bus TV Dario Chacon, 61, poses for a portrait at the La Cruz barrio in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 23, 2022.

A man reads a newspaper made by the El Bus TV organization at La Dolorita barrio in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 26, 2022.

El Bus TV anchorman Dario Chacon, 61, delivers the organization

Anchorman for El Bus TV Dario Chacon, 61, delivers the news for El Bus TV to the neighbors of the La Cruz barrio in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 23, 2022.

Neighbors listen to the El Bus TV newscast below the balcony where it is being delivered by anchorman Dario Chacon, 61, at the La Cruz barrio in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 23, 2022.

Members of El Bus TV, Wincarlys Ramos and Carla Cadenas, deliver the newscast on a bus near the center of Caracas, Venezuela, on August 25, 2022.

Members of El Bus TV Wincarlys Ramos, Valeria Cabezas and Carla Cadenas organize their equipment while waiting to board a bus to deliver the newscast near the center of Caracas, Venezuela, on August 25, 2022.

Two passengers listen to the El Bus TV newscast near the center of Caracas, Venezuela, on August 25, 2022.