Banks and newspapers: at least explain it

From a Catalan perspective, BBVA's takeover bid for Sabadell raises understandable misgivings. But the intimate relationships between banks and some newspapers mean their editorial stances are unclear as to whether they are based on genuine positioning or are explained by other, more spurious motives. For example,The CountryHe dedicated an editorial to the matter with granite-like harshness. Reña, who criticized Competition, felt that he was shaking off his own interests and passing the buck to the government, issued a warning in his final sentence: "The fight, in short, is far from over." The ranking—and the one who must therefore be somewhat amused by the merger—is Santander, owner of 4.1% of Prisa's shares and also with influence over the 7.1% held by the Polanco family, whose debts were refinanced by Botín's bank.

The same can be thought ofThe Vanguard, which also tends to highlight opposition to the operation. "Pressure mounts on the executive to veto the takeover bid for Sabadell," is the headline on the front page. And it's true, of course, but again, one might think that the fact that the newspaper's editor is vice president of CriteriaCaixa and the La Caixa Foundation may have an impact on the outlet's direction, considering that it's also not in the Catalan bank's interest for its rivals to grow through takeover. If we were in the English or American markets, these apparent conflicts of interest would be made explicit in the respective coverage, but this is a rare practice, and, in fact, the participation of financial institutions in the media is usually opaque. Sánchez has conspired to mark out Carles Porta and shed light on the darkness, through mandatory registration: we'll see if he succeeds.