”Poor Press Coverage of Catalan Crisis”
Did the international press coverage of the Catalan crisis live up to basic journalistic standards?
”Some media outlets covered it objectively. Most of the international reporting, however, was extremely poor: factual errors abounded, they got historical facts wrong, and the description of the context was very flawed.”
Did this seem due to lacking knowledge or bias?
”The international media knew very little and were fed biased information by the secessionist lobby. Most surprising were the omissions: they failed to mention that at no point did the secessionists have a social majority. Even when the media did inform the readers abroad of this crucial fact, they often did it at the end and dealt with it in a single sentence.”
As if it were a matter of no consequence?
”Indeed. And this is how journalists manipulate. Also, they made continuous references to the long-gone Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and gave the impression that nothing much had changed since his death in 1975.”
Did they overlook the Transition away from totalitarian rule and four decades of democracy?
”Worse yet! Most of the coverage has been very frivolous and made the story fit the cliché.”
Did they simply repeat the simplistic secessionist narrative of an oppressed people?
”Oh yes. It makes their work easy. It is a good story, and no knowledge is needed. Many foreign correspondents seemed to believe in the secessionist cause, and I kept wondering if they had actually checked their facts. As a Catalan, I cannot recognize the picture the international media painted. Their reporters failed as journalists.”
