Nowadays in Spain, social media is making popular a type of journalism that we could describe as provocative.
What is provocative journalism and why it is so successful?
This type of journalism consists of making the person to whom a question is directed uncomfortable or provoked, in order to generate a reaction. Unlike classic journalism, which seeks to obtain and disseminate information, this provocative journalism often focuses on generating a certain situation that is best suited to gaining exposure in its preferred format: short videos that are disseminated through Twitter.
Obviously, the success of this journalism is based on the lack of patience of those who are questioned by those who practice it. The less capacity a person has to bear uncomfortable questions, the worse the reaction the journalist will get. Today, those who do this journalism from the right are making the left have to taste its own syrup at a time when the Spanish socialists and communists are making a display of absolute shamelessness in their way of governing.
CQC, when the left did the same and enjoyed it
Younger readers of this blog may not know it, but this provocative journalism was invented decades ago and the left enjoyed it, because in Spain it began to be practiced by journalists sympathetic to the socialists. 29 years ago, on May 10, 1996, the CQC program began to be broadcast on Telecinco. The program was headed by a habitual fan of the socialists, "El Gran Wyoming." The date on which it began to be broadcast was not a coincidence: José María Aznar (of the PP) had become president of the government five days earlier.
Under the guise of humour and satire, CQC has dedicated itself to ridiculing well-known right-wing figures and sending its reporters to do provocative journalism, often against Popular Party politicians and also against journalists close to them. I don't remember anyone ever having a reaction like the one the far-leftist Ana Pardo de Vera had on 8 January against Bertrand Ndongo, making derogatory references to his race, calling him a "gorilla", taking the microphone from him and throwing it, as can be seen in this video:
Lo que he vivido esta mañana con Ana Pardo de Vera, es simplemente asqueroso. Lo peor de todo es que ella diga que intenté agredirla
🔴Aquí están las imágenes @periodistadigitTodo lo ocurrido lo podéis ver en este enlace. No hemos cortado NADA
👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾https://t.co/Mf1YgzMilc pic.twitter.com/NzUqxC7jRx— Bertrand Ndongo (@bertrandmyd) January 8, 2025
The same can be said of the violent reaction of the ultra-leftist Antonio Maestre against Vito Quiles on January 14, attacking his camera operator, snatching his microphone, throwing it from a distance and breaking it:
🔴 #URGENTE | ANTONIO MAESTRE ME AGREDE EN PLENA CALLE.
Este violento ha perdido la cabeza. Pido difusión masiva. pic.twitter.com/ooMpxpC6zp
— Vito Quiles 🇪🇸 (@vitoquiles) January 14, 2025
The left is not happy to try its own syrup
Left-wing journalists are showing their support for Ana Pardo de Vera and Antonio Maestre as if they had been victims of harassment or even beaten, when the violent reaction has not been exactly that of Ndongo or Quiles. According to both of them, there are already complaints in progress against Pardo de Vera and Maestre for assault.
If the left feels bad about this, it should be remembered that CQC was on the air for six years doing very similar provocative journalism and back then socialists and communists found it very funny. Apparently, they have stopped finding it funny when right-wing journalists make them try their own syrup.
The precedent of the 'escraches' of the extreme left
It should be remembered that the same thing happened with the so-called "escraches", as the extreme left called its acts of harassment called outside the homes of PP politicians, sometimes banging on the door of the house. The left called these "escraches" "democratic syrup", because it believes it has the right to harass anyone who does not share its opinion. It only started calling them "harassment" when they started doing it to left and far-left politicians.
Any civilized person knows that you should not do to others what you would not like done to you, but for the fanatic and sectarian left that we have in Spain, the idea seems to be that if you are left-wing you can insult, harass and attack others, but if others respond in kind, then they are "fascists." As long as the left insists on rejecting the most basic rules of coexistence, it has no choice but to enjoy its own pleasure.
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Main image: Vito Quiles.
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