Culture, the Cinderella of public television
A few days ago I woke up to some sad news: Spanish Radio and Television was cancelling the program Cultures 2which had been broadcast on La 2 for three years and which Tania Sarrias had presented with proven competence for the last two. A stimulating program with a feminist perspective that in its first episode declared its desire to be "the house of culture," and in which the Andalusian poet Aurora Luque christened culture as "Fertilizing ideas and harvesting beauty"
The announcement surprised me, because La 2 is supposed to be the "smart" channel, the one that makes content, not just anything." mainstream for viewers who are not very much of reality shows, riots and other mass entertainment. The excuse couldn't be low ratings, given that the program had been moved to the morning slot from its advantageous early evening time. A death sentence, because we all know that people who watch TV in the mornings prefer the Ana RosasThe rest of the time, in the mornings, we mainly work.
To really drive the point home, RTVE announces that it's preparing another cultural program. It reminded me of when Betevé cancelled its cultural program in June 2024. Tinner Square which Laura Sangrà presented to replace it, a year later, with The rutting season, presented by herself.
Cosmetic changes? What's the point of closing a good program to open another that might not be so good? There's an explanation. Public broadcasters refuse to accept that their cultural programs are "deficient" and constantly revamp them to make them seem more appealing. It's proof that they haven't grasped the true nature of the public service they're supposed to provide to citizens.
The promotion of access to culture, as outlined in Article 44 of the sacrosanct Spanish Constitution, also includes public media, because culture is a constitutional right. So I wonder why culture and public television have such a complicated relationship, why they seem like antonyms. Let's start by understanding that, given the current climate, it will be very difficult to generate widespread interest in culture. First, we should educate a population that we've been neglecting for years. mis-educatingBecause culture comes after education, not before. Not to mention the mess we've made of Generation Z, which deserves its own chapter. If we expect interest in culture to increase a thousandfold, we're running out of time. And we could say the same about reading, because all the reading programs in the world won't be able to combat the prevailing ignorance.
Keeping culture as the Cinderella of public television content—which increasingly wants to resemble private channels—is a strategy that goes against its very purpose. This dynamic of playing the shell game—turning off one program to turn on another—is simply an exercise in market assimilation. In other words, more responsibility, more Cultures 2 in prime time and less reality shows Vulgar, Mediaset-style. Another day we can talk about the meager airtime TV3 dedicates to culture and why.