March 29, 2024

Crusading Spanish Broadcaster Gives Voice to Ordinary Citizens

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

City Room: Arrests Near Stock Exchange Top 100 on Occupy Wall St. Anniversary

A protester was arrested on Monday in Lower Manhattan on the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement.Marcus Yam for The New York Times A protester was arrested on Monday in Lower Manhattan on the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Updated, 12:32 p.m. | More than 100 arrests were reported on Monday, the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, as protesters converged near the New York Stock Exchange and tried to block access to the exchange.

Demonstrators had planned to converge from several directions to form a “human wall” around the stock exchange to protest what they said was an unfair economic system that benefited the rich and corporations at the expense of ordinary citizens.

Police officers and protesters squared off at various points, with protesters briefly blocking intersections and sidewalks before being dispersed and sometimes arrested.

The police appeared prepared to counter the protesters’ blockade with one of their own, ringing the streets and sidewalks leading to the exchange with metal barricades and asking for identification from workers seeking to gain access.

Meanwhile, Occupy supporters marched through the streets waving banners and accompanied by bands playing “Happy Birthday.”

Police officers repeatedly warned protesters that they could be arrested if they did not keep moving. Most of those arrested were charged with disorderly conduct, the police said.

At one point, at Broad Street and Beaver Street, a police commander grabbed a man from a crowd. Protesters tried to pull the man free, but officers surged forward and wrested the man back and placing him in handcuffs.

One of the more tense episodes took place as several hundred people marched slowly along Broadway. As part of the group passed Wall Street, a line of officers separated the marchers into two parts. A few moments later, officers approached a man who had been objecting loudly to the metal barricades that cordoned off Wall Street. The officers grabbed the man, who yelled “I did nothing wrong,” then removed him. As they were leading him away, a line of officers pushed a crowd, which included news photographers, away from the arrest.

One officer repeatedly shoved photographers with a baton and a police lieutenant warned that no more photographs should be taken. “That’s over,” the officer said.

By midday, 124 people had been arrested. The arrests were mostly on disorderly conduct charges “for impeding vehicular or pedestrian traffic,” according to Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. On Saturday and Sunday, the police arrested 43 people in connection with the protests, Mr. Browne said. While most of those arrests involved charges of disorderly conduct, he said that some were on assault and resisting arrest charges.

Police vans were parked on side streets throughout the financial district and helicopters buzzed overhead. Men in suits walking to work passed contingents of officers posted on corners.

One early gathering spot on Monday was the Vietnam Veterans memorial on Water Street where about 400 protesters assembled. About 200 people had gathered at Zuccotti Park, which protesters took over last year and used as an encampment.

At the veterans memorial plaza Oren Goldberg, 32, from Bushwick, Brooklyn, said, “It’s exciting to see any group of people attempting any sort of change,” adding that Occupy participants were interested in “working toward a greater good than profiteering.”

Next to him, Grace de la Aguilera, 27, a graduate student in Spanish who is also from Bushwick, said she had decided to join the protest out of “dissatisfaction with the economy.”

Soon lines of police officers wearing helmets arrived at the plaza. They stood in ranks near Water Street as the protesters gathered in a circle and held a meeting.

One organizer, Austin Guest, urged people to travel in groups for their own safety.

“Hey, everyone, we’re going to shut down Wall Street today,” he shouted as the protesters clapped and cheered. Mr. Guest warned that arrests were possible.

“Our target is William and Wall Street,” he said. “We are going to split up and assemble back there.”

Near Water Street police commanders wearing white shirts consulted and officers on horseback lined up in a row. The protesters continued to discuss their plans and announced in unison a telephone number for legal help, which many of them wrote with markers on their arms.

Late in the morning the various marches disbanded and many protesters gathered between Bowling Green and the National Museum of the American Indian, where they held meetings and planned for the afternoon.

Joseph Goldstein contributed reporting.

Article source: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/protests-near-stock-exchange-on-occupy-wall-st-anniversary/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Ambassador Gary Locke Urges China to Open Wider to Investment

In his first speech on economic matters since arriving in Beijing last month, Mr. Locke, a former commerce secretary and an expert on trade relations, told a gathering of American business leaders that the Chinese government’s refusal to open up important sectors of its economy to foreign investment was an increasing concern in the United States, where some members of Congress have been calling for a harder line against China.

“China’s current business climate is causing growing frustration among business and government leaders, including my colleagues back home,” Mr. Locke said in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in China. He said a raft of obstacles to foreign corporations — including those focused on mining, health care, energy and financial services — “was planting seeds of doubt in the minds of foreign investors as to whether they are truly welcome in China.”

In his speech, Mr. Locke reiterated many of the themes he advocated as President Obama’s commerce secretary, but he also waded into the politically delicate realm of Internet freedom, calling on the ruling Communist Party to relax online censorship. Such restrictions, he suggested, hamper China’s ability to compete in the global economy by hindering the free flow of information and stifling innovation.

“If China’s businesses, entrepreneurs, academics, scientists, researchers and students and even ordinary citizens aren’t able to fully participate in the international marketplace of ideas, then China as a country and as an economy will fail to realize its full potential,” Mr. Locke said.

Despite China’s robust economic growth, many American businesses say they are increasingly stymied by government regulations that favor Chinese corporations, especially the state-owned enterprises that dominate banking, energy, telecommunications and other sectors. Another irritant involves longstanding rules that force many overseas companies into ventures with Chinese partners.

As part of its efforts to spur domestic job growth, Mr. Locke said the Obama administration was pressing for initiatives to reduce limitations on the export of American technology to China, while helping foreign investors navigate the sometimes daunting tangle of American government regulation. Such measures, he said, would invariably benefit Chinese corporations, which have enjoyed a 400 percent increase in direct investment in the United States since 2008.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Locke said China would do well to return the favor. “The United States is doing everything it can to make our investment and commercial climate as open and appealing as possible,” he said. “Unlocking the full potential of the U.S.-China relationship requires China to take similar steps.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/world/asia/ambassador-gary-locke-urges-china-to-open-wider-to-investment.html?partner=rss&emc=rss