Outrage at Betevé over the incidents in Barceloneta: 'they're criminals'

Part of the responsibility for the climate of tension surrounding crime in Catalonia lies with the public and subsidized press. Catalan media have played a crucial role as conveyors of the official narrative. They have accompanied the whitewashing of squatting and crime with well-intentioned concepts and euphemistic language.

The incidents this past weekend in Barceloneta have once again shown this servility of public and subsidized media. It has also been proven that their credibility is sinking at the same pace as the political establishment.

Residents have confronted some repeat-offender squatters who cause problems in the Barceloneta neighborhood of Barcelona. Betevé, Barcelona's public television, referred to the criminals as "people who cause insecurity." This has triggered dozens of comments from citizens tired of being taken for fools.

Criticism of Betevé for its news coverage

The comments can be summed up in this one from @JredonoK: "Enough with the euphemisms, it's ridiculous." Another user, Xavier, describes it as "woke idiocy taken to infinity."

One user states that "they're not 'people who cause insecurity' but criminals who need to be kicked out of the neighborhood and put behind bars." In addition, betevé describes the altercation as "a fight." A resident states that "it's not a fight" but "residents fighting against uncontrolled immigration and the insecurity it causes."

They call Betevé "the PSC and ERC's newsreel," and criticize the "manipulation" of information "with everyone's money." They claim the channel serves the socialists and their narrative. "All just to avoid saying criminals," they state, "stupidity keeps growing."

There are also ironic comments like this one, which asks not to "criminalize" the group of people who cause insecurity. The words that are repeated most are "euphemism" and "ridiculous." They also state that they not only want to avoid the word "criminal," but also the nationality of the criminals, as these media usually do.

"When you say people who cause insecurity, don't you mean criminals who've taken over the city without respecting the residents themselves and who we're more than fed up with? Who's looked out for these residents' safety? This is out of control and not just in Barcelona," summarizes one of the comments.

"We've gone from young people, vulnerable people or migrants to people who cause insecurity," says another comment jokingly. "They're residents who want to live in peace against criminals who have them terrified," says another.