A real Shockwave Whose finger on the trigger?

The  organizers of the upcoming  international friendly football ( soccer) match between Panama and Spain have made an outrageous decision that will put the country under yet  another world wide spotlight  that isn’t needed..

They have   denied  media credentials to journalists from La Prensa and Mi Diario , without giving any explanation.

In an e-mail sent out  by a public relations representative of Showpro and Shockwave, on Tuesday, November 13,  the organizers of the event, the sports editors of the two papers were informed that they would be denied access. No reason for the decision was given in the e-mail.

It was a decision that has justifiably  created anger among journalists working for rival media outlets and it came on the day defined as “Journalist’s Day” in Panama.” 

Grisel Bethancourt, president of the National College of Journalists, described the decision as outrageous: "This shows that the situation of press freedom in Panama is serious and the profession continues to be aggrieved," she said.

The decision was also criticized by  visiting Spanish journalists Joaquín Maroto and Miguel Ángel Lara de Marke, who said  that such an action in Spain would be a constitutional violation of free press laws.

While the event is being sponsored by private companies, it has involved the government and the national soccer team, which are entities that must follow constitutional requirements regarding the freedom of the press..For private businessmen to be able to deny acess to journalists to cover a team represting the country is a flagrant violation

So the question remains: “Who pulled the trigger?”. Likely not the organizers, who with hand on heart can claim they are doing it for the Panamanian people, while ensuring that the ticket prices are so high that only people in big corporations will be able to attend, and it is likely that many of them  will be first time visitors who have never been to a soccer game. And it is possible that the organizers, with a virtual  government hand out ,( which comes from your taxes)  will not be giving their efforts for free. After all in a government of businessmen, someone has to make a buck..

What makes the situation more ludicrous is that La Prensa has given the event hundreds of column inches of exposure. On the other hand the newspaper has given hundreds more column inches to investigation of government missteps and corruption.. and through WikiLeaks pointed the finger at tourism  chief Solomon Shamah.

One presumes that  there  will be television coverage, so that the banned journalists can join local fans watching a team of millionaires from debt ridden Spain, dance around our local players who between them likely don’t make in a year whatt a single  opponent  makes in one game.

In  the end the local fans will be happy, bars will rake in big bucks, along with the organizers, and La Prensa will continue to rile whoever pulled the trigger.

Happy Journalist’s Day