Download issue (PDF) - Nieman Foundation - Harvard University

Coverage of Terrorism
sanctioned violence, an appropriate
way to fight terrorism. Consider: In the
late 1980’s, press reports alleged that
government ministers had ordered the
kidnapping and assassination of several
ETA members accused of orchestrating
high-profile killings. The ensuing
scandal that came out of these
accusations not only brought about
one conviction—of a government official,
not a terrorist—but it also heightened
the reputation of a major newspaper
(El Mundo) and led to the
electoral defeat of the socialist administration.
“Violence only gives more excuses
to the terrorists” is the way reporter
Luís Angel Sanz sees it. “You have to go
to the root of the problem, with legal
means. You can’t go bombing the whole
world.”
Displays of patriotism also make the
press corps shudder. The concept of
allegiance to one’s country was so brutally
distorted during Franco’s time
that, to this day, a waving Spanish flag
still symbolizes fascism. It’s no wonder
that those bouts of American flag waving
after the tragedy make reporters
here nervous, fueling snide references
to Big Brother.
Then, there is Spain’s reading on
America’s foreign policy. In a word, it
“stinks.” One hundred thousand Spaniards
turned out to protest the Gulf
War, and protests against this one in
Afghanistan are mounting as well. In
press coverage, too, there appears to
be a pattern. When the United States
bombed Serbia, civilian victims surfaced
on the front pages of Spanish
dailies along with the usual U.S. gaffes.
As Múgica observes, “People think, oh
no, those Yankees are screwing up
again.” When the Middle East heats up,
Israel is portrayed as a U.S. “puppet,”
lumped with other monster governments
“Made in the U.S.A.” And when
readers come across the phrase “the
death of Iraqi children,” chances are
good they are reading a story about
U.S. policy, not about Saddam Hussein.
Finally, Spain has long nurtured a
love-hate relationship with the United
States. On the one hand, the media
depict America as the fountain of all
things modern, a model for business,
journalism, the arts. Foreign correspondents
regularly quote The New York
Times and The Washington Post, especially
if Bob Woodward has a byline.
It’s difficult to find a reporter who
doesn’t speak English well enough to
translate American wire copy.
Even before the tragedy, American
news permeated the press. On September
11, every major Spanish daily
put out a special, late edition, five hours
after the attacks. Since then, each one
has devoted at least 10 pages daily to
the crisis. But while the rest of Western
Europe (begrudgingly or not) has historically
associated America with the
defeat of fascism and economic recovery
through the Marshall Plan, Spain
sneers: “What did you do for us?” Anyone
will remind you of President
Eisenhower’s pact with their dictator,
Franco, in exchange for his cold war
support and the installation of American
military bases on Spanish soil.
The history books say many actually
believed the United States would save
Spain from fascism and poverty. The
movie “Welcome Mr. Marshall,” required
viewing here the way “Citizen
Kane” is in America, satirizes those
ingenuous hopes and disappointment
when the Marshall Plan passed them
by. Spain learned the lesson even before
Americans did in Vietnam: America
isn’t always the good guy. And such
mistrust does not fade. As recently as
1982, for instance, former president
Felipe González got elected on promises
that he would “keep Spain out of
NATO.” (He broke his word.) Even
though only two U.S. military bases
remain here, thousands of residents
still protest them now and then.
As setbacks mount in the “war on
terrorism” and even U.S. leaders worry
about civilian casualties, the Spanish
press digs in. “U.S. admits it may never
capture bin Laden,” reads a recent front
page headline on the ultraconservative
paper, ABC. But El Mundo editor
Múgica thinks the press hasn’t been
critical enough. “Hundreds of people
have been detained arbitrarily and remain
in custody and we don’t know
anything about what happens to them!”
he says, outraged.
This media coverage appears to be
affecting public opinion. Before the
start of the bombing, a survey conducted
by Spain’s national statistics
center found that as many as 63 percent
of the people considered American
military response appropriate. A
month later, an Internet poll by El
Mundo showed support had slipped
below 50 percent. Meanwhile, 5,000
people—members of women’s groups,
unions, left-wing parties, and immigrant
rights associations—took to the
streets in Barcelona to protest the war
in Afghanistan. This was twice the number
that turned out earlier in solidarity
for victims of the September attacks.
As an American writing for a Spanish
newspaper, I’m accustomed to ritual
Bush-bashing and basic skepticism of
American foreign policy. I often agree
with much of the criticism, but I am
finding this coverage, in particular, disturbing
and disheartening. From personal
experience, I am finding there is
indeed a sense among journalists that,
as horrible as the tragedy was on September
11, America is finally getting a
taste of the world’s suffering. When I
mentioned to my editor how scared my
mother—living in the United States—
is about anthrax, he laughed as if I were
joking and shot back, “You’re just not
used to having terrorism at home.”
I’ve heard that phrase a lot lately.
Several days after the attacks in America,
a friend who is a photographer shook
his head as he greeted me. It was the
first time we’d seen each other since
the attacks happened. “America creates
its own monsters,” he said, in a
knowing tone. He was referring to
Osama bin Laden. He knows I am from
New York City, but he hadn’t even
bothered to ask me if my loved ones
were okay. ■
Dale Fuchs is a feature writer for the
national Spanish daily, El Mundo,
where she has worked for the past
two and a half years. She came to
Spain in 1998 on a Fulbright Fellowship
for journalists to study coverage
of the single European currency and
newsroom trends.
Dale.Fuchs@el-mundo.es
60 Nieman Reports / Winter 2001