National Radio of Spain - Hypocrisy and Censorship

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[Versión original de esta página en español aquí ]

 

1) I hear a song on Spain’s Radio 1 that not only makes light of gender violence, but celebrates it... and - by pure chance - they broadcast it in the “week against gender violence” which they’d announced only moments before the song. The song wasn’t broadcast to illustrate gender violence. It just happened to be the anniversary of the death of the singer.

2) I don’t have access to Internet for the next 18 days, by which time I’ve decided that it all lies so far in the past, it’s better to leave it...

3) A few months later, I hear another song – frankly, it seems like a cheap imitation of the 1st - in a program on Radio 3, this time with the aggravating circumstance that the presenter calls it “a jewel [or another word in this sense] of irony“. My 1st language is English. I realise that the presenter’s is not. But I think that he speaks it well enough to understand that this is not irony but the singer’s boasting the fact that he’s about to kill a woman who has been unfaithful (maybe - in the case of the 2nd song – he just wants to scare her with his gun). Because unfaithful women DESERVE death (according to the ethos of the 2 songs).

4) This seems to go too far, and I decide to protest it on the program’s blog.

5) It don't get back to Internet for another four days.

6) I upload a comment onto this 2nd program's blog. I take this opportunity to upload a copy to the 1st program’s blog.

7) I ensure that the comment is visible to the readers of both blogs.

8) I start doing other things on the Internet.

9) After 45 minutes, I return to the 2 blogs, to see if there is any response from the program or comments from other listeners to  what I’d written.

10) And I find that the comment has been deleted from both blogs. [In other words, “If you don’t want to praise us, you’d better shut up.”]

11) After letting 36 hours pass by, I start to send open letters to various newspapers. I explain that - as I believe the 2 issues [gender violence and censorship] are important – I don’t offer an “exclusive” to any newspaper. I add that as the letter is long, they could publish it as an unsolicited free-lance article if they want, and that I don’t want to get paid for it.

12) None of the newspapers bother to answer, not even to say that my letter is not suitable for publication.

13) It’s been 13 days since I wrote to the papers. I haven’t heard from them or the radio.

 

You can read the open letter here: http://jimmsfairytales.com/openletter.htm

 

Please: DO NOT SIGN THE FOLLOWING PETITION to say that the letter is well written. Nor that it’s the 1st time that you've read something on the subject. You're also not signing this petition to say that you totally agree with what I've written.

 

I want you to sign ONLY if you agree to ALL of the following points:

a) To leave a comment on a blog or delete it should not depend on the literary quality of the comment.

b) To delete a comment that is not in itself offensive merely because it criticises the administrators of the blog (or their clients) seems like an act of cowardice (and even more so when it’s constructive criticism).

c) That domestic violence is a very important issue and to censor someone trying to fight it is a decision that should not be taken lightly.

d) Finally, seems to you that RNE - or one of their employees has acted in a hypocritical, cowardly, and authoritarian manner.

e) And that the newspapers should give me their reasons for not publishing my article or - at least - an affirmation of receipt.

f) That if the papers’ reason for not publishing was because they didn’t have an exclusive, it seems that they’re more interested in profits than in the free flow of opinion... and the safety of women.

g) That – even if you don’t share it – my opinion [that culture influences the way that people think, and that the way they think influences their behaviour] is worthy of reading... and debating.

 

If you decide to sign, in the space “If you want, you can leave here a personal comment” you might include - but only if it's true – that you’re a country music fan OPPOSED to gender violence. I’ll be responsible for bringing this petition to the attention of RNE.

 

Here’s where to sign: https://secure.avaaz.org/es/petition/Radio_Nacional_de_Espana_y_los_medios_de_comunicacion_Que_no_emitan_canciones_violentamente_machistas_y_que_dejen_la_hip/