The gallows and torches continue to be raised against Minister Puente in right-wing newspapers. Front page of The reason"Puente is entrenched in his post while Spain is mired in railway chaos." There's no real news here. No facts, no revelations. Just a perfectly legitimate opinion (the minister must back down), but one that violates the most basic principle of journalism: distinguishing between information and opinion. More serious, it seems, is the case ofThe World"Iryo derailed on a section of track that hadn't been renewed and was manufactured in 1989." Puente has gone to X to call the headline—which accuses him of lying, since he claimed the track was new—an unfounded and manipulative lie. To build his case, he provides relevant documentation: the shipping note showing that the section was manufactured in 2023 and a photo of the damaged piece with a serial number that matches the previous document.
From there, the know-it-alls have emerged. Those who point out that the piece reads Ensideda, a company that disappeared in the 90s. Or those who see the date 24/01/09 and say it was from 2009. The reality is usually simpler, no matter how much the conspiracy theorists complain: the new company, Arcelor, is using this trademark in its profile descriptions. And, as for the date, it's in international format, so the year is 2024 and not 2009. The drama, of course, is that the internet's Sherlocks will continue to puff out their chests, proud of their sagacity and The World (Given his meager track record of corrections) he will not include tomorrow the documents provided by Puente and, if they are true, an apology. The problem in the era of fake news is not so much the lies (which have always existed), but the lack of qualms about not correcting a possible blunder. He World He must apologize or Puente must resign if he has spread misinformation.
