TVE spends 12 hours on Ayuso's penthouse while the real news waits
Spanish public broadcaster TVE devoted 12 hours to Isabel Díaz Ayuso's penthouse while Ceuta and the economy went unreported. Obsession or scandal? An analysis of the coverage.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Twelve hours of TVE for one penthouse: the show that hides the agenda
There is a paradox that is hard to swallow: Spain's public television spends twelve straight hours on the purchase of a penthouse, while the real news crowds into the margins. The penthouse of the Madrid regional premier, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has pushed everything else off the news bulletins. And the question is not only whether the scandal exists, but what goes unreported while it runs.
Coverage as a weapon and as a boomerang
The saturation coverage of the property has an immediate political reading: for some, it confirms an obsession against the PP's natural candidate for the Moncloa (the Spanish prime minister's office). For others, it is a legitimate operation that, moreover, backfires on its promoters: every extra hour on air reinforces the sense of persecution and hands ammunition to the interested party. Nobody disputes that the property story makes headlines; the disagreement is over the dosage.
Hypocrisy on both sides
Some recall that the very people now denouncing a media witch-hunt cheered the one mounted against Socialist leaders, including court cases built on thinly sourced reports. Now the medicine is being administered the other way round, and it stings. The row thus reproduces the classic duel of mirrors: each side accuses the other of using public broadcasters as a propaganda mouthpiece. Meanwhile, the public channel's credibility is falling: to some it looks like the Government's teleprompter, to others the voice of the opposition.
With Ceuta still fresh in memory, and a long list of economic issues unresolved, the question hangs in the air: if TVE found time for half a day of penthouse coverage, how many real problems went unseen? Who decides that a luxury property should be the news of the day?
There is a paradox that is hard to swallow: Spain's public television spends twelve straight hours on the purchase of a penthouse, while the real news crowds into the margins. The penthouse of the Madrid regional premier, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has pushed everything else off the news bulletins. And the question is not only whether the scandal exists, but what goes unreported while it runs.
Coverage as a weapon and as a boomerang
The saturation coverage of the property has an immediate political reading: for some, it confirms an obsession against the PP's natural candidate for the Moncloa (the Spanish prime minister's office). For others, it is a legitimate operation that, moreover, backfires on its promoters: every extra hour on air reinforces the sense of persecution and hands ammunition to the interested party. Nobody disputes that the property story makes headlines; the disagreement is over the dosage.
Hypocrisy on both sides
Some recall that the very people now denouncing a media witch-hunt cheered the one mounted against Socialist leaders, including court cases built on thinly sourced reports. Now the medicine is being administered the other way round, and it stings. The row thus reproduces the classic duel of mirrors: each side accuses the other of using public broadcasters as a propaganda mouthpiece. Meanwhile, the public channel's credibility is falling: to some it looks like the Government's teleprompter, to others the voice of the opposition.
With Ceuta still fresh in memory, and a long list of economic issues unresolved, the question hangs in the air: if TVE found time for half a day of penthouse coverage, how many real problems went unseen? Who decides that a luxury property should be the news of the day?
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (25 replies).
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