Just in case you missed it ...

This was the cover of The Economist on July 28. We missed it, did you? We haven't even been able to read the relevant article inside as we're too busy living what it (probably) says. Pity.

Spanish embassy in Egypt is warned to expect trouble

After humour magazine asks 'What does Mohammed look like?'

MADRID The embassy in Cairo asked Spanish citizens in Egypt to take 'extreme precautions' because El Jueves, a satyrical magazine in Spain,published illustrations and text on Mohammed. The request comes in the wake of violent unrest throughout the Islamic world after a film from the US and a French magazine of the same vein as Spain's. The embassy confirmed yesterday that it had asked the Egyptian authorities for more safeguards at the embassy, consulate and Instituto Cervantes buildings in Cairo and elsewhere. The complete front cover of El Jueves reads: "But ... does anybody know what Mohammed looks like?"

'Spain scare roils Europe markets': new media 'attack' on Spain

MADRID Just as the emergency budget for 2013 is getting approved in parliament, both the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times headline the recent demos, still going on last night and a good part of today. The budget is expected to be one of the most austere ever, with swingeing cutbacks and reductions and pay freezes. Among other things Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is blamed for his government's indecision in asking for a bailout. The BBC's Today programme this morning also dealt with the subject, as do many British and other European newspapers. In the meantime, some of the Spanish media are wallowing in 'poor mes'. Watch this space for a view on the new budget and other economic news.

Changing faces on public television: a look at impartiality in Spanish public broadcasting

Ana Pastor, removed

'Impartiality doesn't exist because no human can be devoid of feeling' Anonymous

MADRID Loosely modelled on the BBC, as are so many broadcasting services all over the world, Spanish radio and television holds one very major difference (as do so many others, too): politics is a large part of its internal machinations. Radio y Televisión de España (RTVE) is a public company; that is, it is owned by the public - in other words, by the taxpayer. In Spain, however, it has always been the playground of the party in power. Freedom of the press and objectivity are one thing, this is another.>>>SOON YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO READ THE REST OF AN ITEM SUCH AS THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE SUBSCRIBED. Subscription information wil be available soon.>>>

London, a mosaic of inequalities: how the Spanish media sees Britain's capital

Olympic Torch at Battersea Dog's Home

The Olympic city is full of contrasts between different and separate social classes and a diversity of cultural identities

LONDON The Olympic Torch was carried through 33 of London's boroughs this week, the idea being to show an image of unity and harmony. The reality is very different, however. London is full of contrasts and inequalities, although, together with Paris and Berlin, the capital of the old British Empire is one of Europe's popular cities, having welcomed over 15 million tourists in 2011. This is a generalization of some of the comments offered up by the Spanish media, where the diversity of opinion is as varied as the variety of cultures of London's inhabitants.>>>

Paper is dead, long live the network

This is an ad for The Guardian. It shows the story of the Three Little Pigs as it might be treated in a newspaper and online. The ending is a surprise, so watch on. There's been quite a lot of discussion on the social networks...

King's Christmas speech - reactions

(Photo: casareal.es)

MADRID His Majesty King Juan Carlos gave his traditional Christmas speech at 9pm on Christmas Eve (which is when most Spaniards are sitting at the table for their celebration). It was watched by 7.16 million people, according to the ratings. Most of the reactions by politicians and the media refer to the fact that the speech included a reference to the Royal Household's problems with the King's son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarín, who is being investigated for 'deviating public funds' and has been 'demoted' from Royal appearances and found a job in the US. Practically the only criticism of the speech is that there was too little reference to the fact that the terrorist group ETA says it has abandoned 'violence'. There was, certainly, much referring to the economy and how 'we must all pull together in the same direction' (not HM's words, just our conclusion).

Municipal finances make TV redundant

Ayuntamiento (andaluciarustica.com)

CASTELLAR (Agencies) The municipal television is stopping daily transmissions because of cutbacks. Castellar Mayor Juan Casanova made the announcement after taking stock of his first 100 days in office. The channel will only emit one news programme per week, principally on Council sessions and institutional announcements. The six people on staff will be placed in other departments, all of which are being reorganized. The web page and press department will be maintained. The annual cost of the TV channel amounted to €120,000, which the Mayor thought excessive for Castellar. Jimena, just up the road from Castellar, stopped TV broadcasting last year, has no press office and its website has not been updated since May 27.

 

Back pedalling on news control

SPAIN (UPDATE) Our previous item about the national radio & TV network, RTVE's voting to '' the news was published at 10.45. It is now 11.47 and already the enormous controversy has had reactions from the two main political parties. The PP, whose original proposal it was, has announced that they are requesting to have their decision annulled and PSOE says it will now vote against the original proposal. Good thing the Right hand knows what the Left is doing! (Well, at least we're on top of the news here at CampoPulse...)

News to be controlled by RTVE Council

RTVE headquarters, Madrid

SPAIN In an unprecedented move against freedom of speech, the politically appointed administrative council of Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) will have access to the production system of its news broadcasts, iNews, which is used to prepare the scripts used in broadcasting. The Council will therefore be able to see what exactly the scriptwriters and correspondents are working on at any given time, and thus be able to control headlines, sub heads, video footage, interviews and direct connections. The Council approved the measure by majority on Wednesday, with the No votes coming from Izquierda Unida and UGT. A Council spokesperson said that this would merely allow them to see what was going on, but would have 'no management input'. (Prospero Note:>>>

Spanish newspapers do not headline McIlroy's achievement

SPAIN Rory McIlroy is not Spanish, of course, but you would have thought that his uncanny achievement at the US Golf Open might have made the headlines in at least one or more of the sports publications. But no, there was no mention of him on the front pages. We know because we comb the main Spanish media every weekday to bring you Today's Headlines. In any case, we have to admit that what McIlroy managed at Bethesda yesterday was incredible. You don't know what he did? Well, don't look at the Spanish press to find out...

'GIBRALTAR COLONIZING SPAIN'

SPAIN/GIBRALTAR Saturday's front page of Spanish newspaper La Razón headlined 'Gibraltar colonizing Spain', with a detailed photo of the Rock and other explanatory bits and pieces. The scare-mongering tactic of the paper -of right-leaning tendencies- is about the Gibraltar Government's announcement that bunkering will be allowed up to 3 miles East of the Rock. To quote/interpret the sub-heading: "[Gibraltar] announces expansion of 'petrol stations' on Est side of the Rock, Spanish government impassive."

Sally Bercow, the British 'Carla Bruni'

SPAIN (Agencies/Photo: www.guardian.co.uk) The uproar that arose from the Speaker of the House's wife's photo in the Evening Standard's magazine, is echoed - more tongue-in-cheekily, perhaps - than in Britain. One newspaper, Público, has called Sally Bercow 'the British Carla Bruni' in a comparison to the French President's singer/actress wife. Another, ABC, sniffs at the lady's 'inappropriate' behaviour. In any case, they all have practically the same text to their articles, and the differences lie mainly in their headlines.

Conspiracy theories rage over Paul the Psychic Octopus's death

As we never reported yesterday, caught up as we were in whatever was more important, Paul died of something or other a couple of days ago. Paul is dead, long live Paul, according to the Spanish media, who had naturally taken the cephalopod oracle up in a big way when it predicted Spain's victory in the 2010 World Cup (over which Paul -or Peter, or Mary for all we know- appears to be lifting a leg in the photo). However, Metro.co.uk puts it this way: "There are some in England, Germany and Holland who wanted Paul turned into paella after he predicted defeats for them in the World Cup this year. Perhaps he ended up in the stomach of a disgruntled fan?>

Something smells very, very rotten in the Campo de Gibraltar

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR
The programme on air pollution in the Campo de Gibraltar that we announced on Monday (two items down) was supposed to be broadcast on Monday was substituted by an old one after the state-owned television station received a phone call from CEPSA, the company that owns the refinery that is considered to be the main pollutant (photo). A report on periodismohumano, an 'alternative media', gives the full story, which we have translated/summarized below. There is definitely something very smelly goping on. See for yourself:>

Look out for new colour supplement!

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new colour supplement in English that will be appearing regularly on Sundays (not every Sunday just yet, though!) on CampoPulse. It is a new venture for OneLinePULSE Publications that has been in the works for some time and will also be appearing on JimenaPulse. The supplement, called DominGo, is published in a magazine format that allows the reader to turn the pages, zoom in on an article or view it on full screen. Watch this space next Sunday! We are also looking for contributors, so if you feel you have something worth publishing, please send it in so we can have a look. Articles, features, events, photos related to the Campo de Gibraltar would be most welcome.

Campo TV starts test transmissions

Television in Spain has gone digital (TDT), at least in most places. Countrywide digital coverage is expected to be completed by the end of April. At a local level, Televisión Campo de Gibraltar, the second of four networks after Onda Algeciras to obtain a TDT licence, is broadcasting trial transmissions. These come through Frequency 28, and reception has to be adjusted to that frequency to receive their transmissions, which are expected to reach approximately 97% coverage of the area in both cases. Onda Algeciras and TV CdeG share the same channel through an agreement with Axion. The more local channels, such as those of Jimena and Castellar, which still transmit analogically, are doomed to disappear shortly.

English language radio for Campo de Gibraltar coming soon

(Promo) BAY FM is a new English language radio station for this area – reaching an audience from Manilva in the east to Algeciras in the West and from Gibraltar back to a line stretching (roughly) Jimena/Gaucin/Casares. BAY FM hope to revitalise the radio scene here on the coast and will offer a wide variety of programmes, ranging from mainstream pop, through a selection of  specialist music programmes (Country, Soul, Jazz, etc.) and full coverage of news and events, whether local, national or international, plus comment and reviews – the station will be fully interactive>

Gibraltar Chronicle trouble explained

The news that The Gibraltar Chronicle, one of the world's oldest continuously published newspaper, is in danger of closing for financial reasons (see our item here). This is an interview with its Editor, Dominique Searle, on GBC. Interesting, but it would certainly be a shame if the Chronicle disappeared.

Could The Gibraltar Chronicle disappear?

According to an article in the Gibraltar Chronicle itself, in which it quotes union leader Charles Sisarello, the newspaper is in danger of becoming extinct "unless drastic measures are taken and adequate funding is made available.” Sisarello is also quoted as saying that “the whole operation could collapse and we will witness the disappearance of a historic local institution and news media,” adding, "staff have not had a pay rise for over ten years and there have been many unsuccessful attempts to find a solution."

The Chronicle was first published in 1801 -the image is from 1826- and has been an institution on the Rock practically since Gibraltar was taken over by Britain and  has long been considered 'the newspaper of reference' there. It recently celebrated its Bicentenary, about which it is interesting to read.