At Media Party 2019, Antonio Hernández detailed how Venezuelan digital outlet El Pitazo emerged to counter systemic state censorship and the collapse of traditional media. By leveraging messaging apps, domain migrations, and social platforms, the outlet established a multi-platform distribution strategy to circumvent government blocking and deliver independent news across all 24 states of the country.
Beyond digital channels, El Pitazo relies on community-based reporting by training local citizens to gather verified ground-level information. Combining civic participation with multimedia formats and offline performative journalism has earned the outlet international acclaim, proving that independent reporting can thrive even in highly restrictive environments.
