The Federation of Associations of Spanish Journalists (FAPE) organized this event under the second Indian Leaders Programme, in collaboration with the Press Association of Madrid and the International Press Club. The meeting took place at the International Press Centre in Madrid.
The large group of Spanish journalists who participated in the event was composed by representatives of the mainstream media of our country. The Indian “talking heads” were able to share their opinions with Berna González Harbour, deputy director of El País; Emilio Contreras, Opinion deputy director of ABC; Rafael de Miguel, News deputy director of radio station SER; Anna Bosch, news editor of TVE; Iñaki Gil, News deputy director of El Mundo, Angel Boixadós, former president of the Association of Economic Journalists; Edurne Arbeloa, news editor of Cuatro; Angel Nieto Lorasque, international editor of La Razón and Alvaro Zamarreño from SER.
Indian leaders were received by the president of FAPE, Elsa González, and Manuel Cacho, secretary general of the Spain-India Council Foundation. The latter emphasized that the goal of the Indian Leaders Program this year is "bridging the Indian and Spanish civil societies to promote the exchange of information and opinion, in order to know each other better."
During the gathering, they discussed issues such as the polarization of Spanish journalism or the structure of written and audiovisual information services. They also discussed the effects of the economic crisis in the news industry, where 10,000 jobs have been destroyed in recent months and around 40 media have dissapeared.
Regarding the current contents of the two countries' media, indian professionals have been particularly interested in delving into the “indignados” citizen movement; youth unemployment; political corruption; the position of Spain compared to other European countries or the role of the monarchy. Meanwhile, Spanish colleagues highlighted the last events related to sexual harassment against indian women as the most important issue about India recently covered by Spanish media. Both groups of journalists agreed that there are many similarities between Indian and Spanish media, and that, despite efforts, mutual knowledge is still based on stereotypes.
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