Spain media say outgoing govt pressed them on ETA

[Robbien]

By Elisabeth O'Leary and Inmaculada Sanz

MADRID, March 16 (Reuters) - Another Spanish news outlet said on Tuesday it had been pressured by the outgoing government in a growing furore over accusations of media censorship and bias in coverage of last week's Madrid bombings.

Catalan-based daily El Periodico said outgoing premier Jose Maria Aznar called its editor twice to persuade him that Basque, not Islamic, militants were behind the Madrid bombing.

On two occasions "Aznar ... courteously cautioned me not to be mistaken. ETA was responsible," Antonio Franco, editor of El Periodico, wrote in an editorial.

It was the latest in a series of accusations that the government sought to steer media coverage of Thursday's devastating train attacks which killed 201 people. Since then evidence has grown that Islamic militants were responsible, though the government says all lines of enquiry are still open.

Newly elected Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has long lambasted the state media for lacking impartiality. But it was only after the PP's defeat was confirmed that journalists began to go public en masse with their misgivings.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1612019.htm

[arcane1]

1. al Qaueda would make him look bad

so let's blame it on our political enemies instead...

the SPanish were not fooled, apparently

[David Zephyr]

2. ETA Behind Bombings in Madrid = Iraq Behind Events of 9/11 = ?

A Dutch Communist behind the burning of the Reichstag.

There's no new thing under the sun.

[BayCityProgressive]

3. looks like right wingers

in Spain don't differ too much from the ones here.

[maggrwaggr]

6. they've obviously been taking lessons from Shrubco

The media here knows they can get away with it because there's no competition.

[UpInArms]

4. wish the news media here would

out the BFEE for all of its armtwisting and propaganda

:mad:

[NV1962]

5. Dean of foreign correspondents in Spain protests about Gov't pressure

Steven Adolf, Sr Correspondent for Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad in Madrid, is also Dean of the Circle of Foreign Correspondents. A copy of the letter he sent on behalf of all officially accredited foreign correspondents to the Spanish Gov't, in protest against their armtwisting to push the “ETA did it” mantra, is published here. (it's in Spanish - from the site of SER radio station, a great source for news from a mostly lefty angle, and they stream content too.)

In that same article, mention of German public TV station ARD (one of the big channels there) which picks up statements from a spokesman for the German equivalent of the FBI, the federal crime agency BKA, which states that even they were duped with misleading info about the investigation of the attacks, once more: to pin the blame on ETA. They rightfully but diplomatically express their outrage and bafflement over this unprecedented manipulation, too.

In national public TV channel TVE, and in the regional Telemadrid, employees are demanding that the government-appointed management be sacked on the spot - for turning newscasts about the terrorist attacks into partisan electoral propaganda. Article about that (in Spanish, from SER too) is here.

In related news, after Aznar's Gov't had pressed for and got a UN Security Council resolution specifically condemning ETA for the attacks, and not before Germany and Russia voiced their anger about what they too perceive now as undue manipulation, Aznar's Ambassador to the UN has finally (!) informed the UNSC about the current line of investigation of the attacks - where they finally admitted that Al Q'aida (or a related organization) is the probable culprit. Story about that (again from SER) here.

Elsewhere I posted an article with links from newspaper El Mundo on Spanish journalists protesting against the immense pressure put on them by loyal party hacks of Aznar, appointed by him, to spread the “ETA did it” meme. But since that's more or less the same as posted in the original message in this topic, I won't repeat the links.

Then, there's the (defeated) candidate of Aznar's PP, Mariano Rajoy, who expresses his “doubts” that the mass protests against his government's deceit were “genuinely spontaneous” - he has the gall to accuse the protesters (who demanded the truth, no more) of orchestrating an illegal protest! Article about that, on SER, here. An interview with the man who sent out the original text message through his cell phone to ten of his friends (which resulted in an awesome avalanche of cascading text messages raging throughout Spain) is here, where he explains how things became quite unexpectedly crowded in front of the headquarters of the PP in Madrid, a few hours later... And elsewhere in Spain. That's an impressive story of activism and enormous response of outraged voters demandng the truth - and their protests sparked the overnight shift of votes, from PP to PSOE (further fueled by the enormous surge in voter turnout, mostly from younger voters, who tend to vote leftist.)

There's plenty to find about Aznar's Gov't manipulation of pinning the attacks on ETA for electoral purposes, and the massive outcry it caused throughout Spain, with the now known big surprise defeat of Aznar's PP as a result - and yet the communis opinio appears to be in US mainstream media editorials that either "Al Q'aida dictated the votes" or "voters in Spain appeased Al Q'aida." Right.

Well, don't be alarmed when you start seeing printed abroad that the US really deserves Bush.

[markses]

7. Aznar's a liar, a straight mentirosa

Today he tells me something y manana otra cosa. ;-)

Ten points for anyone who can name the "artist" that came up with those lyrics!