Black Friday: Spanish Public Broadcaster Employees Mourn the Death of Independent News

© mariola.cubells / Instagram

For the third week in a row, journalists at the Spanish public-service broadcaster RTVE wore black on Friday to protest PM Mariano Rajoy's party meddling in their news coverage, which they fear damages the channel's credibility.

The staff at Radio Television Espanola rebelled against the refusal of the Spanish ruling conservative Popular Party (PP) to support the opposition's bid for a public contest to appoint a new, independent chairman for the channel.

According to RTVE staff, this kind of management casts doubt on its credibility, following numerous cases of deliberate news manipulation in favor of the ruling party, whether by withholding information or inaccurate coverage.

Women at RTVE, who were supported by many male colleagues, said they dressed in black to show they want "a public broadcaster that includes all colours, one that is diverse, independent and professional."

One of the four major political parties in Spain, PP, does not have a majority in the government and normally needs external support to pass legislation. But, according to RTVE reporter Irene Montero, Prime Minister Rajoy's PP was still able to "abuse its power" and block the opposition from lobbying for the transparent appointment of a new chairman, rather than the direct government appointment.

RTVE's current chairman's judgment calls and his policies were put into question after the coverage of Catalonia's independence referendum in October 2017. According to the channel's staff, Jose Antonio Sanchez, who is known for his pro-government stance, steered RTVE to deliberately manipulate, censor and sometimes omit certain stories, which seriously damaged their credibility.

In an attempt to counteract the manipulation, the channel's staff published an ample 72-page report. 'The Consejo de Informativos de TVE' (The News Council of the TVE) report addresses a total of nearly 30 cases of unilateral news coverage that deliberately violated the notion of plurality and freedom of speech.

This journalist turned politician recounts a story of completely fake news. Video = 1:40

One of the revealed cases involved Catalonia's independence referendum, which, despite the fact that it was widely covered elsewhere, did not receive any special attention from the RTVE, while its significance was downplayed.

Outraged with the coverage policies, the channel staff questioned the reason for giving preference to the opinions of Spain's government over those of the referendum organisers.

"What is the professional reason for the lack of informative stories regarding what happened in Catalonia on Sunday, October 1st?" the channel staff asked in the report.

Among other violations, the report revealed numerous cases of intentional mistranslation of subtitles from Catalan into Spanish.

The RTVE's Black Friday protest was initially triggered by the acquittal of five rapists in Pamplona, and it was part of an ongoing national movement to denounce sexual discrimination and to defend women's rights through their empowerment.

After two weeks of Black Friday protests, one of the editors from RTVE Valencia office quit her job in disapproval of the channel's biased news coverage.

Journalists at RTVE have launched the hashtag #AsiSeManipula (that's how they manipulate) to share their experiences working on the pro-government channel.

The campaign, led by RTVE reporters, received support from journalists and actors such as Pepa Bueno, Rosa María Calaf, Javier Cámara and Marta Soros, who published a video to advocate for the promotion of freedom of speech on radio and television.

Responding to the accusations of news manipulation, Spain's Minister of the Treasury and Public Administrations and member of PP, Cristobal Montoro, said, "if you don't like TVE (news network), then you should change the channel (network). That's what freedom is about."

Freedom without truth is no freedom at all. I suggest you listen to Minister Montoro and turn RTVE News off.

German Reporter Says Douma was Completely Staged - MSM Won't Report It

This German reporter went live on ZDF in Germany and reported that he had met with many people in Damascus who had left Douma after the infamous chemical attack. They consistently reported that it was the rebel forces who brought chlorine canisters into the area and located them where they know Syrian troops would drop bombs. 

“People told us in a very convincing manner that this whole story was staged,” Uli Gack, a reporter with the German ZDF public broadcaster, said (referring to the alleged Douma chemical attack) while he spoke live on ZDF Heute (‘Today’) show on Satuday.

The scene of the attack, which allegedly took place on April 7, was in fact the “command post” of a local Islamist group, the reporter said, citing the witnesses he was able to speak to at the refugee camp.

He went on to say that, according to the locals, the militants brought canisters containing chlorine to the area and “actually waited for the Syrian Air Force to bomb the place, which was of particular interest for them.”

As the Syrian forces eventually struck the place, which was apparently a high-priority military target, the chlorine canisters exploded. The locals also told Gack that it is not the first such provocation in Douma that was staged by the militants.

According to other witness accounts, the militants deliberately exposed people to chemical agents during what they called “training exercises” then filmed it and later presented as an “evidence” of the alleged chemical attack in Douma.

The reporter then said he could not verify the people’s statements and cannot say if they are all true but called them quite “convincing” and added that they deserve attention.

Earlier, the Russian military said that they had found a laboratory operated by militants in central Douma, which was capable of producing chemical weapons.

In particular they found a cylinder filled with chlorine, which looks similar to the one that was shown in one of the videos of the alleged chemical attack in Douma and presented as a “chemical bomb dropped from a helicopter.”

The purported chemical incident in Douma allegedly took place on April 7. A week later, Washington and its allies launched a massive retaliatory missile strike against Syria, without even waiting for the Organization for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to start its investigation of the incident.

In the meantime, western media embarked on a massive campaign of accusing Moscow and Damascus of “blocking” the OPCW investigators from accessing the scene of the alleged attack. Gack, however, also seemingly dismissed this narrative, saying that the delay in the OPCW team’s work may indeed have been caused by security issues.

The German reporter also pointed out that some hidden extremist cells might be still operating and carrying out attacks in the recently liberated areas, even “weeks” after they had been retaken from militants.

Or, somebody ran around behind a building, fired a couple shots and a grenade to make it sound like the advance force was under attack. The OPCW's first delay was caused by the premature western strikes; I would be surprised if other delays weren't caused by western interests.

MSM response?

Gack’s report was immediately labeled as “propaganda” by some of his fellow journalists in Germany. A reporter with the German Bild daily, Bjoern Stritzel, who in particular is said to have been working undercover and actively communicating with Islamic State terrorists, lashed out at Gack, calling his report an “unbelievable pro-Assad propaganda on German Television.”

If you look for this report in English media, you will only find it in Russian News and in German on ZDF. MSM does not want to hear anything that remotely resembles the truth, only that which demonizes Assad and gives warrant to the west to keep bombing Syria to hell.

Last week, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that there are still militants in Douma who “terrorize citizens and, among other things, impede the normal work of representatives of the international community – the UN and the OPCW.” On Saturday, the OPCW eventually confirmed that its team visited one of the sites of the suspected chemical attack in Douma and collected samples for analysis.

Politicians, Military Asking the Obvious Questions About Douma, But Not Media

Former head of Britain's special forces says Assad 'doesn't need to use gas' because he's 'already won the war' but give May 'benefit of the doubt' over intelligence

By Mark Nichol For The Mail On Sunday

Major General Jonathan Shaw (pictured) said: 'Why would Assad use chemical weapons at this time? He's won the war'

A former head of Britain's Special Forces has challenged Theresa May's claim that President Assad was behind the chemical attack in Douma.

Major General Jonathan Shaw said: 'Why would Assad use chemical weapons at this time? He's won the war. 

'That's not just my opinion, it is shared by senior commanders in the US military. There is no rationale behind Assad's involvement whatsoever.

'He's convinced the rebels to leave occupied areas in buses. He's gained their territory. So why would he be bothering gassing them?

Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday, the ex-SAS and Parachute Regiment commander added: 'The jihadists and the various opposition groups who've been fighting against Assad have much greater motivation to launch a chemical weapons attack and make it look like Assad was responsible. 

'Their motivation being that they want to keep the Americans involved in the war – following Trump saying the US was going to leave Syria for other people to sort out.'

His views were echoed by Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, who said: 'If I was advising President Assad, why would I say use chemical weapons at this point? It doesn't make any sense. But for the jihadist opposition groups I can see why they would.

'But one must give Theresa May the benefit of the doubt and trust she has seen some unequivocal evidence which leaves no doubt that Assad was behind the atrocity.'

But the ex-commander of the Army's chemical weapons regiment, Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, said: 'A sophisticated nerve agent was used at Douma, not just chlorine. Only Assad has the capability to produce these substances inside Syria. And using chemical weapons is his standard modus operandi.' 

Except it isn't. There is no proof Assad has used chemical weapons since 2012, yet he's been blamed several times and each accusation builds on the previous. Yet, there is no benefit for him to use chemical weapons, and there is great benefit for others to use them especially if it keeps America in Syria. That is the whole point and that should be obvious to everyone as it has been to me for more than a year. 

Yet the media isn't even questioning the absurdity of Assad using chemical weapons to keep America in the war. Other than The Mail and Fox's Tucker Carlson, I see no other media asking what should be so obvious. In fact, when a retired British General attempted to raise the question on Sky News, he was summarily cut-off by Samantha Washington. 

Marine Le Pen raised the issue of the insanity of bombing a chemical weapons storage facility - she's a politician. Still no media find it odd that the west would think it proper and moral to bomb a chemical weapons facility. No-one, not even military intelligence is that stupid to think such a thing is a good idea. Yet, it appears they think American, British and French people are stupid enough to believe it is a good idea. And, apparently, they were right, certainly as far as the media is concerned, and the people believe what the media tells them, no matter how stupid it is.

Most media bought the WMD lies (this was not poor intelligence, it was 'faked' intelligence by Dick Cheney, this has been documented) leading to the war in Iraq; and they are buying the chemical weapons lies just as enthusiastically. What a shame there is no hunger for the truth in MSM today.

"Still a man he hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest", Paul Simon, The Boxer.

Fox News’ Ratings Slide as Americans’ Mistrust of Mainstream Media Grows

Is America beginning to wake up to the truth about mainstream media?

© Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Nearly two-thirds of US voters believe that the mainstream media is producing fake news, according to a new poll. Many also believe that fake news is purposely published to push an agenda. Fox News appears to be hurt the most by viewers’ mistrust.

Across the political spectrum, 65 percent of voters believe there is a lot of fake news in the mainstream media, including 80 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of independents and 53 percent of Democrats, according to the latest Harvard-Harris poll provided exclusively to The Hill. In total, 84 percent of voters said it is hard to know what news to believe online.

Those numbers have increased since the end of March, when six in 10 Americans believed the mainstream media report fake news regularly or occasionally, with 54 percent thinking that online news websites report fake stories on purpose in order to push an agenda, according to a Monmouth University poll. A whopping 80 percent of respondents believed that online outlets report fake news regularly or occasionally.

The March poll also found that Republicans (79 percent) were most likely to say that major news outlets transmit fake news stories, compared to 66 percent of Independents and 43 percent of Democrats. Of those, Republicans were also more likely to say that major news sources reported fake news deliberately, rather than by mistake or due to poor fact checking.

I have to agree with the Republicans here; they do report fake news intentionally, except that often they don't actually know that it is fake. They may believe they are reporting the truth because they are reporting through eyes that see things from a biased perspective. 

When Fox News was initiated, it was under the premise that the unbiased truth would finally be reported. Unfortunately, we find too often that Fox is every bit as biased as the liberal news media. As we are becoming aware of that, it gets more and more difficult to discern the truth as both Fox and the liberal media think they are telling the truth and their truths conflict. 

There cannot be 2 truths on a particular story. There can only be one truth and it is becoming increasingly obvious that we cannot find that on any of the mainstream media outlets, they all have agendas.

In April, Gallup found that 62 percent of Americans said that the news media favor one political party over another, with 64 percent saying media favor the Democrats over the GOP. Less than a quarter (22 percent) said that the media was biased towards the Republicans. Among GOP respondents, 77 percent said the media was biased towards one party, compared to 59 percent in 2003. Less than half (44 percent) of Democrats said that the media showed political favoritism, the same as in 2003.

“Much of the media is now just another part of the partisan divide in the country with Republicans not trusting the ‘mainstream’ media and Democrats seeing them as reflecting their beliefs,” said Harvard-Harris co-director Mark Penn. “Every major institution from the presidency to the courts is now seen as operating in a partisan fashion in one direction or the other.”

Between 2012 and 2015, trust in the media remained historically low, with 40 percent of Americans saying they had “a great deal” or “a fair deal” of trust and confidence in the mass media, according to an annual Gallup survey. That dropped to 32 percent in 2016, however. The decrease in trust was dramatic among Republicans, with only 14 percent expressing trust, down from 32 percent the previous year.

The Harvard-Harris poll comes as one mainstream outlet, Fox News, has had to retract a major story it had been following. On Tuesday, the cable network and the Washington, DC-based affiliate it owns were forced to walk back their reporting on the July 2016 murder of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer who Fox claimed had been in contact with WikiLeaks director and investigative journalist Gavin MacFadyen. Rich’s parents condemned the speculation around their son’s death in an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Tuesday.

“The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed,” Fox News said in a statement.

The Rich retraction is the latest in a series of scandals rocking Fox News, including sexual harassment and racial bias lawsuits filed by current and former employees, which led to the firing of host Bill O’Reilly and the resignation of co-president Bill Shine. Before O’Reilly’s ouster, advertisers fled from his program, “The O’Reilly Factor.” More than 60 companies pulled ads from his show, leaving him with a mere seven sponsors by April 8.

Now it appears that viewers are fleeing from O’Reilly’s old employer. Last week, Fox News placed third among cable news networks in primetime ratings among 25-54 year-old viewers, the most coveted advertising demographic, Adweek reported.

MSNBC came in first with 611,000 viewers in the demographic and 2.44 million viewers overall. CNN came in second with 589,000 viewers and 1.65 million viewers overall, while Fox had 497,000 viewers in the coveted demo and 2.4 million viewers overall.

It was the first time in 17 years that Fox came in third for a full week. The last time was the week of June 9, 2000, when the network was still in its infancy.

Despite the setback, though, Fox News still ranked as the top basic cable network in Total Day audience for the 20th consecutive week, according to Adweek. It also finished second in total primetime viewers across cable, behind TNT, which was airing the National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference finals.

MSNBC, which placed first during primetime among 25-54 year-olds last week, actually ranked behind Fox News if Saturday and Sunday ‒ when the liberal-leaning network aired reruns ‒ were taken into account. All three cable news channels ‒ CNN, Fox News and MSNBC ‒ were among basic cable’s top 5 networks for the entire week.