Thanks, Broncano

I write this without sarcasm. The conversation between Broncano and Abascal –I refuse to call it an interview– was a disaster, as everyone has already pointed out. But since I am a Monty Python fan and I always look at the the bright side of life, I think there must have been a healthy consequence following the dismal day when, on public television, someone spoke of "hunting" immigrants and a bought-and-paid-for audience remained silent, validating dehumanizing rhetoric. Specifically, journalism was highlighted, which is not morally superior to entertainment but does have minimum requirements that Broncano did not meet. And I write this with sadness because I find him to be an intelligent, agile, and funny communicator: what he has achieved with La revuelta is very commendable. On the other hand, we will never know, but it would be good to determine if RTVE pressured him to bring on Abascal –knowing that Feijóo would not agree to go– in order to boost Vox at the expense of deflating the PP so that its result is similar to that of the PSOE.

Politics-as-spectacle is not yet well resolved in still-mass media like television. Electoral debates are tedious, and the crossed vetoes and conditions imposed by the parties make them inoperative. There is talk of platforms and measures, but deep down the viewer wants to see if someone's upper lip is sweating like Nixon's, according to that myth which says he lost the election because of the televised debate against JFK where he looked unwell (whereas radio listeners considered him the winner of the debate). But when we enter the realm of entertainment, talking points end up sliding across the screens without anyone taking the trouble to check and verify the falsehoods being told, like those of Abascal on Monday. In any case, yesterday was a good moment for lovers of critical thinking to see the need for journalists capable of holding politicians accountable with data, uncomfortable questions, rigor, precision, and context. There was a moment, late at night, when Broncano realized all of this and his face was a picture. We must thank him for admitting he had fallen into the trap of his own limitations.