[Media-watch] {SPAM?} Asnar faces Wrath of the Media

[Sigi D]

http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1146495_1_A,00.html
on Deutsche Welle (english) you'll find the following
article (more interesting link on the web site)
18.03.04
Aznar Faces the Wrath of the Media
Journalists and media groups in Spain have accused
outgoing Spanish Prime Minister Aznar of manipulating
information in the aftermath of last week's terrorist
attacks in Madrid. 
 
The political turbulence in Spain sparked by last
week's terrorist attack, which killed more than 200
people, shows no signs of abating. 
 
On Wednesday outgoing Spanish Prime Minister Jose
Maria Aznar, who suffered a shock electoral defeat
last weekend, faced further trouble after foreign
correspondents in Spain accused his government of
deliberately and systematically manipulating
information to sway the media in their favor. 
 
Forced to point the finger at ETA?
 
On Wednesday the Association of Foreign Media in
Madrid said that high-ranking government officials
telephoned several journalists shortly after the
bombings with requests that the scribes pinpoint
Basque separatist group ETA as the perpetrator of the
attacks in their reporting. 
 
Such telephone calls were allegedly made even after
the discovery of the suspicious delivery van
containing Arabic tapes on the evening of the attacks.

 
Steven Adolf, head of the Madrid-based Association of
Foreign Correspondents, accused Aznar's government of
willfully misleading foreign journalists and said
several officially accredited correspondents received
calls on the evening of the attacks with explicit
requests to mention ETA had carried out the attacks in
their articles. 
 
"It was the ETA"
 
Even the editor of the Spanish newspaper El Periodico,
Antonio Franco spoke of an "exertion of influence."
Franco said that Prime Minister Aznar had personally
called him up as the paper was preparing a special
edition on the terrorist attacks and told him, "it was
the ETA. There's not the slightest doubt about that!" 
 
Even daily El Pais reported that they had received
telephone calls from Aznar, insisting that ETA was
responsible.
 
Allegations of manipulation and censorship are also
echoing from Spain's state media. Several employees of
state television network TVE, radio broadcaster RNE
and news agency EFE are now demanding the resignation
of their directors for caving in to government demands
and presenting a distorted picture of the attacks
(photo). 

 
They also accuse their companies of biased reporting
shortly before the parliamentary polls. Aznar is also
believed to have said at a press conference a couple
of days ago that he called up several newspapers last
week to present the government's viewpoint. Aznar's
Interior Minister Angel Acebes defended his
information policy at the time. "We have always told
the Spanish people the truth," he said.
 
Spanish film director in a soup over coup rumors
 
The present furor follows large demonstrations on the
eve of the national polls last week when hundreds of
Spaniards protested against Aznar's information policy
in the aftermath of the attacks. 
 
They accused Aznar of deliberately focusing on ETA to
divert attention from the possibility of Islamic
extremists as the likely perpetrators for fear of
losing voters. Aznar has been a staunch ally of the
U.S. in the war against terror and supported the war
in Iraq much to the displeasure of many Spaniards.
Aznar's electoral upset is widely seen as a punishment
meted out to him by the Spanish people.
 
Wednesday's controversy also took a spectacular turn
when Aznar's Popular Party said it would sue
Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar
(photo).  
 
The director told reporters earlier this week he had
heard rumors that Aznar's Popular Party planned a coup
d'etat last Saturday, the eve of the elections it
lost. Almodovar was quoted in Spanish daily El Mundo
as saying: "If confirmed it would be horrendous." 
 
On Wednesday Interior Minister Acebes said Almodovar's
comments were "ludicrous" and didn't "merit respect."
Popular Party spokesman Ignacio Calabuig said the
complaint for "slander and calumny" would be filed
with a Madrid court. 
 
Criticism from the U.S.
 
Aznar's handling of information following the worst
terrorist attacks in recent Spanish history has also
attracted criticism from across the Atlantic. 
 
"All, including the members of the UN Security
Council, should learn a lesson from it," UN
Secretary-General Kofi Anan said. The UN had condemned
ETA shortly after the attacks on the insistence of
Madrid. 
 
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has
also slammed Spain's information policy and blamed it
for the trouncing of the conservatives at the polls.
"It wasn't the terror attacks themselves, but rather
the way they (the Spanish government) dealt with it
that cost the government the elections," Armitage said
in a radio interview. 
DW staff (sp)
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1146495_1_A,00.html


	
	
		
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