Últimas Noticias
Últimas Noticias is a tabloid newspaper in Venezuela founded in 1941 after pro-freedom measures implemented by President Isaías Medina Angarita and was the largest circulated newspaper in Venezuela prior to 2014.[3] It historically had a center-left stance and was initially friendlier to the Hugo Chávez administration. The newspaper became more critical of chavismo in the late 2000s and early 2010s. After it was bought in 2013 by British financier Robert Hanson, its editorial line became less critical of the government.[4][5][6]
Type
Daily newspaper
Eleazar Díaz Rangel (until 2019)
Danisbel Gómez Morillo
16 September 1941
Center-left (historically)
300,000 (2013)[2]
El Mundo Economía y Negocios, Líder en Deportes
History[edit]
Últimas Noticias was founded in Caracas on 16 September 1941 after the pro-freedom measures implemented by President Isaías Medina Angarita. It initially bore the name Diario del Pueblo (the people's newspaper), and was created by Víctor Simone D'Lima, "Kotepa" Delgado, Vaughan Salas Lozada and Pedro Beroes. Miguel Ángel Capriles Ayala acquired the majority of the shares in 1948.[7] He was the president of La Cadena Capriles, until his death in 1996. His son, Miguel Angel Capriles López assumed that position in 1998 until 2013, starting a modernization process that lasted more than 12 years. On 16 October 2000 it was relaunched, adopting a more colloquial tone and aiming to be more of a guide to daily life.[7]
In June 2002, Ultimas Noticias began printing in colour on every page and launched its Sunday edition aimed to a more middle class audience.[7] From 2004 to 2006 it launched four regional editions (for different areas of Greater Caracas) in addition to the national one.[7] In 2009 it started the integration of all its newspapers with digital platforms and moved to a state-of-the-art facility, the most modern newsroom in the country, in 2012. In 2013, the newspaper was sold to an "investment group" that was allegedly more sympathetic to the Venezuelan government for $160–180 million.[2]
Ultimas Noticias was described as a tabloid in 1958 by Time magazine,[8] in 2007 by The New York Times,[9][10] and in 2019 by The Guardian.[6]
BBC Monitoring stated in 2019 that Últimas Noticias has "a predominantly pro-government stance";[11] in the same year, The Guardian characterized the paper as a "pro-Maduro tabloid".[6] In 2007, The New York Times said the "tabloid [was] sympathetic to President Hugo Chavez".[10]