March 28, 2024

El País Apologizes for Printing Fake Chávez Photo

If authentic, it would have been a scoop, as Mr. Chávez has not been seen in public for over six weeks. But soon after the newspaper, El País, hit the streets, the photograph was revealed as a fake, prompting an apology from El País to its readers.

The embarrassing mistake brought a barrage of criticism from Venezuelan officials who have long accused the international news media, especially in Spain, of being biased against Mr. Chávez’s socialist revolution and eager to report unfounded rumors about his health and cancer treatment.

“Crisis of capitalism is not just economic,” the Venezuelan information minister, Ernesto Villegas, wrote in a Twitter post. “It also corrodes the ‘independent’ press, which long ago abolished limits to attack Chávez.”

He called the photograph “grotesque” and asked in another post if El País would print a similar photograph of a European leader or of its editor. Employing a pejorative term used in Spain for South Americans, he added, “Yellow journalism valid if the victim is a revolutionary ‘sudaca.’ ”

He also posted a link to a 2008 YouTube video of a man undergoing a medical procedure that appeared to be the source of the photograph.

A short article that appeared beside the photo was headlined, “The Secret of Chávez’s Illness,” but that turned out to be misleading, as no secrets were revealed. Quoting unidentified sources, it said the image was taken in Cuba some days ago, but it did not elaborate.

In a statement posted on its Web site later on Thursday, El País said that once it had ascertained that the man in the photograph was not Mr. Chávez, it stopped distributing the paper and sent out a new edition with a different front page.

The newspaper said it had obtained the picture from Gtres Online, a photo agency that it had worked with for several years. The Associated Press said that Gtres had also offered the photograph to it and another Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, but they both declined. El País did not explain how it realized that the photograph was fake, but it apologized to its readers and said it would investigate what went wrong.

A person who answered the phone at Gtres Online said no one was available to comment.

It did not say how many copies of the newspaper with the fake photograph made it into circulation. But Mr. Villegas posted a picture online of the copy of El País that arrived Thursday at the Venezuelan Embassy in Madrid, with the offending photograph on the front page.

El País also said that the photograph appeared on its Web site for about half an hour before it was taken down.

Mr. Chávez has not been seen or heard from since he had cancer surgery in Cuba on Dec. 11, and the Venezuelan government has given few details about his condition. Recently, officials have said his health is improving, but the relative secrecy has led to widespread rumors, especially on social media like Twitter.

Last week, Vice President Nicolás Maduro, who is running the government in Mr. Chávez’s absence, referred to El País and another Spanish newspaper, ABC, that has printed questionable stories about Mr. Chávez’s health as “this garbage press.”

“We have had to confront a really miserable media war over the president’s life, his health,” Mr. Maduro said in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE. “You can’t even call this yellow journalism. This is journalism full of evil that has installed itself around the world, particularly in Spain.”

María Eugenia Díaz contributed reporting.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/world/europe/spains-el-pais-apologizes-for-printing-fake-photo-of-chavez.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Bucks Blog: Goodbye Orange Ball, Hello Capital One 360

Capital One

1:30 p.m. Updated / To add comment from ING Direct.

The distinctive ING Direct orange ball is bouncing into oblivion.

Customers of the online bank, which was officially acquired in February by Capital One, were notified yesterday that as of this coming February, the bank will become Capital One 360.

Instead of the orange ball, the bank’s identity will be represented by Capital One’s red-and-blue logo, with the addition of a red ball enclosing the number “360” with a sideways chevron.

“ING DIRECT’s new name come February will be Capital One 360,” the bank announced on its Facebook page. “New name, new logo, new colors and the same focus as always – You.”

As has been the case since the acquisition was first announced in 2011, many customers reacted with dismay on ING Direct’s Facebook page.

“Unlike!” said a woman identified on Facebook as Tammy Russell. She added a frowning emoticon with this comment: “I love that ING is orange – not boring conservative other bank colors!”

Also on Facebook, Maria Elena Villegas had this to say: “So, Capital One bought the rights to the orange ball only to destroy any brand recognition and customer loyalty amongst ING customers? If anything, they should have rolled everything over to look and feel and work as ING Direct works. This is an absolute waste of branding, customer loyalty, and potential goodwill or at least neutrality from current ING customers by Capital One. I feel sorry for the current ING employees, as this was, of course, totally Capital One’s call. Does not bode well.”

Chad Burton pronounced the new name “lame.”

David Mejias went so far as to start a “save the orange ball” petition on Change.org.

In in a response to the posts, ING Direct responded on Facebook that the name change was a necessity: “Legally, we had to change our name, Saver. As for our colors, we have to be all color coordinated with our new family. We love Orange too, but we think red will look good on you.”

Since the acquisition closed, the bank has added new features, like tools to track savings in different accounts.

Laura DiLello, a spokeswoman for ING Direct, confirmed in an email that Capital One is legally required to change the ING Direct name, and can only use the name and the orange ball until February. “While orange is unique to ING DIRECT, customers will still receive the same great level of customer experience they’ve come to expect from us,” she said.

In addition to the savings tracking tool, she noted, ING Direct has recently added other enhancements, like a remote check deposit option, and has removed foreign-transaction fees for debit-card use internationally, which is consistent with Capital One’s “longstanding” policy. Additional information is available on the bank’s Web site.

But the reaction is more evidence that customers remain skeptical about Capital One’s insistence that the acquisition wasn’t going to change ING Direct, known for higher-than-average interest rates and helpful customer service.

To help allay such concerns, the bank posted a “company pledge” on its new Web site and sent e-mails to customers that included e-mail contact information for Jim Kelly, head of direct banking for ING Direct, and John Witter, president of retail and direct banking at Capital One.

What do you think of the bank’s new name and logo? Do they matter if the bank maintains its level of service?

Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/goodbye-orange-ball-hello-capital-one-360/?partner=rss&emc=rss