The Command Post - Op-Ed - UPDATE El Pais Scandal: Newspaper Apologizes

September 17, 2004

UPDATE El Pais Scandal: Newspaper Apologizes

Little Green Footballs, Powerline, get ready for Pequeños Balones Verdes and Cuerda De Corriente or whatever, the Spanish blogosphere rocks! El Pais today, in both its printed version and its online version, printed an apology for the sick ad they used in an email campaign to win a few new subscribers.

The text of the apology, translated by myself into English, is as follows:

EL PAÍS apologizes for the use of the images of the terrorist attack against the Twin Towers in New York, which happend on September 11, 2001, for a campaign to aquire subscribers to ELPAIS.es. This regrettable campaign, carried out through emails, supported by two photos of New York, one with the Twin Towers and another one without, under the heading "You can do a lot in one day, imagine what can happen in three months". The promotional campaign started last Monday, September 13, and was sent to more than 50,000 recipients before it was cancelled, on Wednesday 15th.
EL PAÍS, its publisher and the Grupo Prisa profoundly regret the use of a tragedy, which in this case cost the lives of more than 2,700 persons, for publicity purposes. We would like to apologize for it to the victims and their families, to the citizens of New York who experienced that agression from up close, and to those who saw among their email this ominous message, and to all the readers of the newspaper.

Any explanation about the chain of errors which led to the launch of this campaign is insufficient, which some of our readers rightly qualified as repugnant. We share the disgust they have expressed in numerous messages and letters to the management and we are sorry it happened.

The Prisa Group has opened an internal investigation to clarify how it was decided to launch this promotional campaign and to take appropriate measures. Effective inmediately, it has ordered the company used to send out the emails that it mails all recipients of the campaign to apologize.

EL PAIS would like to express once more, like it has done in its 28 years and almost 10,000 editions, its solid solidarity with the victims of terrorism. Like said in EL PAÍS editorial on September 12, 2001, and we repeat it fully here again, those terrorist attacks touch all citizens of good will, without distinction of borders or continents, and constituted an attack "against those with whom we share the same democratic principles which in our country costed so dearly to attain".
The barbarian terrorist attacks which happened later in the rest of the world, among other places like Madrid, did nothing but confirm the necessity to act firmly and democratically before terrorism, which must exclude any irresponsible use of these events.

As apologies go, CBS might want to start taking notes. Apology accepted.

First published at Southern Watch.

UPDATE: Barcepundit has more. Apparently El Pais received a lot of complaints, and not just them, Spanish embassies around the world too.

Posted By V-Man at September 17, 2004 04:53 AM | TrackBack

Comments

A profuse apology, which should be graciously accepted.

Posted by: max at September 17, 2004 06:51 AM

Goodness, V-man, as I read that I couldn't help thinking just as you did ...

apologies go, CBS might want to start taking notes.

I had really worried that the ad campaign really signalled an underlying trend in Spain, that even beat France, to capitulate to the Islamists. In light of this apology, offered in both unequivocal tone and in a timely manner, I'm willing to take the view it was just tone-deafness.

Posted by: Darleen at September 17, 2004 08:58 AM

I have a few choice words for you Max, but at least I know that you'll forgive me after my profuse apology, which will be graciously accepted.

Posted by: 6 at September 17, 2004 09:00 AM

It is a good apology, excellent. But it does not negate the fact that the ad went to print. Lot's of folks are involved in producing and evaluating an ad before it is placed. That no one in a position to stop it saw the offence in it shows how deeply anti-American sentiment permeates Spain. While we should accept the apology, we should also accept that to describe Spain as an ally is an error.

Posted by: Mr. Davis at September 19, 2004 08:52 PM

..sorry aint good enough....words are cheap..so is your apology..hate for Spain,absolutely not...some cowards most diffidently...hide while you can,these animals will strike again...today..tomorrow ..only time can say..

Posted by: Rob_NC at September 19, 2004 10:44 PM

The apology is wrong translated, again.

Yes, Mr. Davis, I think that describing Spain as an ally is each day more wrong.

The anti-Americanism has been increased because of this incident, and the funny responses of many American sites, showing victims of the 11-M with funny comments around, which nobody have apologized, and nobody will apologize for.

Posted by: VinoTinto at September 20, 2004 11:01 AM

VT: It's easy enough to criticize. How about your own translation?

Because, quite frankly, I read the original, and I find no substantial fault with the above.

Posted by: gus3 at September 20, 2004 06:44 PM

Gus3,

�EL PAÍS, its publisher and the Grupo Prisa profoundly regret the use of a tragedy, which in this case cost the lives of more than 2,700 persons, for publicity purposes� ---- As you see, they don�t apologize for �encouraging terrorism� and for �mocking of the victims�, but for the use of this photos for publicity purposes, which I also considerer a frivol use. But I have seen worse publicity campaigns and nobody complained. The difference is that El Pais, is a socialist Spanish newspaper, and therefore, a wicked newspaper.

�this ominous message�---- The message could be considered as ominous. Look in a dictionary what does it mean. The offer of 3 months coincides with the time which left for the elections in USA, (The most of the Spaniards know that the American elections are near, but they don�t know that the American elections are in November) and the photos show a big terrorist attack. Therefore, the message can be considerer as ominous.

�which some of our readers rightly qualified as repugnant�---- They don�t do any reference to V-Man or the Command Post readers. They stopped the campaign because their readers (mainly left wing Spaniards, ie, what you call terrorist supporters) considerer the message as repugnant. And not the �complains to the Spanish embassies around the world�. This scandal was not even mentioned in the TV news, in any channel. Even the right wing TV channels ignored it, as far as I know.

All the sense of the apology change if you translate:

�Un dia da para mucho. Imagina lo que puede suceder en 3 meses�

for

�You can do a lot in one day, imagine what can happen in three months� ---- Garbage, shameless manipulation of the information.

Instead of:

�A lot can happen in a day. Imagine what can happen in 3 months.� ---- Correct.

The apology changes a lot.

An we have right now a lot of photos on the internet showing victims of the 11-M dead or wounded with very funny jokes around them, made by many Americans.

Well done. You won the match.

Posted by: VinoTinto at September 21, 2004 09:45 AM