The demonstration was inspired by an episode of the investigative television program “Salvados,” or “Saved,” in which the anchor Jordi Évole suggested that the authorities in Valencia had manipulated witness accounts in order to exonerate senior officials from any responsibility for the crash.
By using the hourlong Sunday news program to denounce political, financial and even legal abuses of power, the charismatic Mr. Évole has become a prominent Spanish voice at a time of economic crisis, a kind of answer to the muckraking American filmmaker Michael Moore, who has tackled topics like the U.S. gun lobby and the effects of General Motors’ cutbacks on cities.
The media, Mr. Évole argues, must do a better job of exposing cover-ups than it did during Spain’s boom years, when journalists tended to look the other way.
“We have to be very critical,” he said. “We should not have had to wait six or seven years to know what went wrong in our savings banks and in building our infrastructure.”
At a time of record 27 percent unemployment, and as nearly every Spanish institution has found itself entangled in corruption cases, Mr. Évole has had plenty of low-hanging fruit to pluck. But for other stories, he has dug deeper, examining precrisis events like the Valencia crash.
In doing so, he has earned the accolades of his peers. At the Spanish television academy awards in April, Mr. Évole was named best reporter, and “Salvados” the best news program.
And as the recession has lengthened in Spain, Mr. Évole and his program have widened their appeal by aiming to resolve the grievances of ordinary citizens and taking on powerful corporations like the banks and utilities. With a sixth season set to start in October, the “Salvados” host has managed to nearly double his audience over the past year to an average of 2.9 million viewers.
“The small guy deserves more defending than the big guy,” Mr. Évole said during a recent interview. “And on top of that, I’m also small,” he added with a wry smile, referring to his own height of 1.67 meters, or a little less than 5 feet 6 inches.
Mr. Évole, 38, is left-leaning but says he has never been a member of a political party. Still, his growing legions of fans have been urging him to follow the example of Beppe Grillo, the Italian comedian turned politician, whose Five Star Movement made significant gains in Italian general elections this year.
Entering politics, Mr. Évole insists, is not in the cards, because “my thing is to ask rather than to judge. I just don’t see myself as the Spanish Beppe Grillo.”
“Salvados” is produced by El Terrat, a company based in Barcelona owned by one of Spain’s most famous television personalities, Andreu Buenafuente. Before “Salvados,” Mr. Évole had appeared on television as Mr. Buenafuente’s sidekick on a late-night talk show, playing the humorous role of a troublesome and sarcastic member of the audience.
Mr. Évole also sought, initially, to bring some humor to “Salvados,” notably by making fun of politicians. But as Spain sank further into crisis, Mr. Évole switched to a more serious and investigative approach. “If we had remained largely humorous, people would have started to see us as just frivolous,” he said, “because a country in such a terrible situation needs to be provided with serious information rather than just humor and sarcasm.”
Like the Oscar-winning Mr. Moore, Mr. Évole favors a laid-back style, snooping around corporate or government buildings wearing a checkered shirt, jeans and sneakers. “We don’t have the budget to buy suits anymore,” he joked.
And like Mr. Moore, who has been accused of ambushing people he wants to interview, Mr. Évole has been criticized.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/business/global/01iht-evole01.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
