ABSTRACT
In Venezuela, the populist-authoritarian regime has been creating a new structure for national communications since 2007, where the media scheme favored the official voice. Their goal was consolidated in 2013, when Maduro assumed his presidency after the death of Chavez. After that hegemonic control of media channels, Venezuelan audiences began to migrate to other non-traditional media channels, including digital media, which reached very high numbers. This analysis assesses how audiences have been migrating during the last decade from different information platforms. The migration happened, as a process, in different stages. The chapter also highlights the importance of alternative channels, based, among other sources, on official data from the official opposition TV channel in YouTube and primary data from public opinion polls. The findings suggest that in 2020 WhatsApp is the new destination for Venezuelan audiences seeking political information. This chapter also uses cluster analysis to propose a taxonomy for users of WhatsApp in Venezuela.
