Since Cristina Fernández attacked NEWS for its cover this week: “El Calafate, Cristina’s armored refuge”, an unusual machinery of defamation and grievances was activated by militants, government officials and media related to Kirchnerism, which borders on the grotesque The insistence on discrediting this magazine with absurd arguments illuminates a new warning light around the link between rulers and the media.
Gregorio Dalbón, the vice president’s lawyer, responded to the clarification of NOTICIAS about CFK’s anger, with the tweet that is reproduced here. In addition to admitting that her client did not read the note because “she does not consume garbage” (that is, not related press), she installs a phrase of pleasant digestion for her fans: “the Vice President exposed the falsity of the cover.” The chorus of media supporters accompanied on TV and networks, reinforcing the idea that “they unmasked a lie published on the cover of NEWS (C5N sic).
What falsehood are they talking about? What is the lie? That the vice president makes use of the presidential fleet for her recurrent recreational trips to Patagonia at the expense of the State? No. That the photo used is not complete. A useful nonsense to divert the focus of attention towards a non-existent conflict.
Cropping a photo to focus on the character of interest is the most lawful and common practice in journalism of all time. Of course, malpractice is incurred if the intention is to favor or harm the character through that edition. If there is a photo of a politician with a drug trafficker and the inconvenient companion is removed from the publication, some intentionality can be inferred. But what would be the point of eliminating an unknown admirer of Cristina who stood guard for hours in front of her house to meet her?
If it does not appear, it is because it is an unknown person who does not deserve exposure on the cover of a magazine, although we were considerate to tell the story of their exceptional close encounter in El Calafate and reproduce the full photo in the cover story.
Do we also have to explain that the word armor was used as a synonym for protection and that we are not referring to the type of doors that your house has?
NOTICIAS is aware that local photographers refuse to make photographic guards to the vice president in El Calafate. “If I do it, I won’t work anymore”, is the answer that has been repeated for years and also on this occasion.
But the trivialization operation would not be complete without the gender quota and deputy Cecilia Moreau added her contribution: “A new case of misogyny and resentment.” It is already boring to say that being a woman is not, in today’s societies, a safe conduct.
What all this tomfoolery underscores is how useful the “media enemy” continues to be in neutralizing the non-applauding media with insults and fallacies.
