TWELVE HOURS INSIDE CATALONIA TV- AN EXPERIMENT CARRIED OUT BY A SPAIN JOURNAL

TWELVE HOURS INSIDE CATALONIA TV- AN EXPERIMENT CARRIED OUT BY A SPAIN JOURNAL

translated by me from https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20171022/256224867_0.html

Twelve hours in the Circus of Hatred, where Spain is like Japan

You do not need to be a genius to deduct that the pride of the so called ‘’Catalan people’’, that is, the 40% who vote independentism, rests on three pillars. The first the language. The second their Government. And the third, TV3. Catalonia, nay, Independentist Catalonia cannot be understood without one of these three elements, which is why the announcemt of the Spanish Government about taking control of two of them has been receive as a humilliation rather than a temporary change of managers.

The relation of nationalism with their language, Goverment and their television is almost carnal, hence the flourishing of the sexual metaphores  employed (rape, abuse, submission) in the Catalan in the last hours.

How much do  we all pay for TV3?

The Generalitat-autonomical government- allocated 315 million Euros in 2016 to communication policies. 81 milions went to media that publishes or broadcasts in Catalan. The rest, 234 million euros, was taken by the Catalan Corporation of Audivisual Media, which manages TV3 and Catalonia Radio. A remarkable figure. 25% of the national budget for all public televisions went to Tv3, whose staff is 2,300 people, almost double than national Mediaset and 30% more than national Atresmedia. Such luxury of  resources ( TV3 employees’s salaries is way higher tthan their counterparts in private media) has not worked however to halt the progressive decline of the jewel of the crown within Spain autonomic televisions. Being used to an undisputable leadership for years, TV3 ‘s saw its ratings declined in 2016 2017 coinciding with the escalation of the independentist movement, making it third in the ranking, behind Tele 5 and Antena 3.

Up to here, the context. From here on, the experiment. The journal EL ESPAÑOL  asked me to spenf twelve hours of my life watching TV3. The public Catalan television is called ‘’The one ours’’ in the community and within that subtle aggresiveness (as  implied that by the notion that, if a TV station is ‘’the one ours’’, there must be others that are ‘’theirs’’) lies the core of the conflict. According to nacionalist propagandists the distinction between ‘’them’’ and ‘’us’’ does not imply a judgment of value on who is better or worse but only the verification of a difference of an obvious nature, such as that between a Catalan escudella soup and a Castilian atascaburras (winter dish). Mi experience as a Catalan tells me that their distinction conceals more often than not hatred, contempt and a superiority complex. But this is just a hypothesis. So I turn on the TV an get ready to spend a day on Tv3 searching fot data to confirn or belie my prejudice.

 SPAIN IS ‘’ABROAD’’

The TV3 programming is that of an informative channel with interludes of entertainment in the form of humor and cooking programs, TV series of own production and the usual films.

Practically 60% of its broadcast time is dedicated to news and current affairs. But the percentage is misleading because also entertainment programs, such as  the ‘’Tarda Oberta’’ evening magazine or the ‘’Està passant’’ program, presented by Toni Soler, devote a great deal of time, if not all, to talking and making satire about those very same current news.

And the current affairs in TV3 are basically two: the independence process and FC Barcelona.

The TV3 news reports are in strict accordance with the style book of the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation. Its rules can be summarized in one: Spain should receive the same treatment as Japan, Argentina or Germany. In other words, that of a foreign country. In practice, the geographical and political frame of reference for TV3 is Catalonia and the Catalan-speaking lands. When a TV3 announcer says "our forests" is referring to the Catalan forests, never to the Galicians’, La Mancha’s or the Navarrese’s. The "fleet of the north" does not exist because to the north of Catalonia there is no sea. What does exist is "the fleet of the north of the Peninsula". Which leaves the doubt of whether the fleet is Spanish, Portuguese or Hispano-Portuguese.

In the TV3 news reports, the word ‘’national’’always refers to Catalonia. The only exceptions are the official denominations. The National Police does not raise doubts as there is no danger of confusion with the Mossos d'Esquadra. The term "central" is often avoided and replaced with "Spanish". The term "Catalan" is also omitted for local personalities (they never say "president of the Catalan Parliament" but the "president of the Parliament"). The national soccer team is always accompanied by the adjective "Spanish". It is also always remarked whether the protagonist of a given piece of news is a Catalan, when he or she is .

Monologue means debate in Catalan

Two weeks ago, politician and writer Joan López Alegre and political scientist Nacho Martín Blanco announced in an article published in El Pais that ‘’they were not going to take part again in any other debates on TV3 or Catalonia Ràdio, where they were usual guests. The article was titled ‘’Goodbye to the circus of hatred’’ and the sub headline  read "Our presence in TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio is harmful, it only serves them as an alibi."

Debates are the star on TV3. Although to call debate what I saw in the program Els Matins, presented by the journalist Lídia Heredia, or in the already mentioned Tarda Oberta, is a curious subversion of the original concept. Many Catalans take pride in -and use as proof of their exquisite civic and intellectual superiority compare to the rest of the Spaniards -the calm and meekness with which they carry on the debates on TV3 compared to the bawling pot of boors and vulgarities usually seen in national TV talk shows such La Sexta, Antena 3 or Tele 5. In reality, the placidity with which the TV talk shows take place is due to a single reason. In them, everyone agrees.

 ( Picture showing the moment a TV3 journalist  burned the Spanish Constitution)

On the first of the debates I see four guests. Gemma Ubasart, professor of political science at the University of Gerona; Ferran Espada, journalist of the newspaper El Punt Avui; Marcos Pardeiro, journalist of La Razón; and Esther Vera, director of the newspaper Ara. Only Pardeiro dares to disagree once in a while , always with the submissive tone of he who knows to be part of a minority.

The talk is a fanciful delirium from beginning to end. It threatens Spain with the economic ruin of the Spanish state, speaks of pacifist ‘’political prisoners’’ turns reality upise down to fit a preexisting and immovable speech. Puigdemont's reluctance to declare independence is interpreted as a personal and political sacrifice aimed at disentangling the conflict from the intolerant Spanish Government. No word of the flight of companies, which is blamed on the pressures of the Spanish Government. Neither the breakdown of coexistence among Catalans or the total lack of international support.

On the contrary, Rajoy's attitude is analyzed as a surrender to the most extreme sector of his electorate. Pardeiro tries to introduce a wisp of wisdom into the delirious analysis and opts to systematically defend the reasoning closest to a hypothetical common ground between independence and constitutionalism, but all is in vain. The rest of the compatriots do not want common grounds but absolute truths. The attitude of the state government is seen as a willingness to humiliate the Catalans while the recent kidnapping and shut down by the Catalans of their own Parliament in the last few weeks to consequently silence their own opposition that represents more than half of the Catalans is not even mentioned.

Four-zero

If in this first debate the proportion of nationalists and Spaniards was 3 to 1, in the following it is 4 to 0. The tertulians are Josep Pagès, professor of constitutional law of the UAB; Xavier Arbós, professor of constitutional law at the UAB; Berta Barbet, political scientist; and Jordi Nieva, professor of procedural law at the UB. The tone is the same. The penal type applied to ‘The Jordis’’ is anachronistic. The 155 can only be applied within the limits of the Catalan Statute (an irony within the reach of any student of the first course of law: if one has resorted to 155 it is precisely because the Catalan Government has disobeyed its own Statute). It also mentions a hypothetical abusive use of the Law and affirms that it is incontestable that on October 1 was voted yes to independence won. No one, indeed, answers the delirious statement.

Coverage by TV3 of the latest Diada

An economic analyst appears on the scene. In the world of finance, he says, ‘’there is agitation, but no alarm or sinking’’. Nothing bad happens here. The stock exchange oscilates little. After Puigdemont’s reply to Rajoy, of course, not a bit. A little more with Rajoy's. The message is obvious. Markets react calmly when the speaker dialogant  Puigdemont and with concern when the speaker is the fascist Rajoy. The four have stated a bit earlier that senior European officials have remained "within the script" as they refused any support for independence. Again, the message is obvious. The European leaders obey the slogans of the Spanish Government but, if they were free to give their opinion, then the Catalan government would be right. The news will be well received at the Moncloa Palace. In Europe Rajoy’s will is done. Merkel, Tajani, Macron and Juncker are mere puppets.

In the afternoon, the same but different

There are differences between the morning and afternoon gatherings on TV3. Whereas in the morning the tertulians are professors, journalists and political scientists, those in the afternoon are jack of all trades and you get to hear everything, from the lastest ruckus of a youtuber to  tax  scales. The tone is more partying and much less stiff-lipped. It is the turn for the Empar Moliners, the Bernat Dedéus and even the exjudge juez Elpidio José Silva, who brings a pinch of academicism in a debate that, in tone and depth of analysis, is not far from that of Women and Men and Vice versa.

Elpidio José Silva, who was sentenced to seventeen and a half years' imprisonment by the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice in Madrid for an offense of prevarication and two against individual freedom, servrs  the inaugural service. After a report in the type of ‘’You could also be influencer, too’’ Elpidio affirms with all forcefulness and without a hint of doubt that the court that has judged the Jordis is incompetent and that both are innocent. Phhilosopher Dedéu is the punk of the talk and the only one that uses expressions like "se'ls en fot" (translatable by "don’t give a fuck"). Dedéu also says that the Catalans have humiliated the Spanish government. An affirmation that confirms the second difference between the morning and afternoon gatherings. In the morning it is the Spanish government that humiliates the Catalans. In the evenings, it is the Catalans who humiliate the Spanish government.

In general, the tone is sentimental with an extreme emotionality, more typical of individuals less accustomed to the rule of law than citizens of a mature democracy. Empar Moliner, TV3’s official hysterical human, stares at camera and addresses the relatives of ‘’The Jordis’’. " Know that everyone everywhere, on the subway, n the streets,in the streetcars, has a shrunken heart when they talk about ‘’The Jordis." And she adds: "Also the non-independentist". Alarmed, I look at my heart to see if it has shrunk but it remains just as small and charred as ever (I am Spanish so I have no feelings). I guess I must be the exception that confirms her rule?

Forty-five minutes before the evening news, the presenter and producer Toni Soler does the initial monologue of his program Està passant, a satirical bulletin in which also appears Òscar Andreu and Jair Domínguez. Soler tells four jokes. The first is about the ugliness of the Catholic Monarchs. The second is bit juicier. If Melania Trump had a double, as speculated by the press of her country, the first lady would use it in the scenes of risk. That is, when Donald Trump wants to fuck her. The third alludes to the theoretical pressures on the part of the Government and the King so that SEAT Cars moves its production line to Madrid. "Dare say now that the King does not work" says Soler, who adds: "The new model of SEAT will be the SEAT 155". The fourth joke is the most subtle: "Enric Millo is still a delegate of the Government in Catalonia."

I've been watching TV3 for twelve hours and the non-nationalist Catalans still do not appear in ‘’The One Ours’’ . Maybe because ‘’ours’’ is not so ours but rather theirs? That of a few who have not stopped alluding to ‘’the Catalans’’ when they really wanted to say the ‘’independendist Catalans’’ and have but ignored, despised and silenced the remaining 60% of their country. But yes: always peacefully and homely.