News. Cartoon of 23/01/2026 in CTXT
Translation of the cartoon: "This makes it a pleasure to follow the latest news." (the play on the word "horde" (horda) does not translate well into English for the rhyme in Spanish).
37% of Spaniards avoid being informed on purpose and 58% point to politicians as the main culprits of misinformation, these are some of the results of the latest Digital News Report by the Reuters Institute and Oxford University.
This attitude is more common among women and especially among people between 25 and 44 years old. Trust in the news remains low in Spain. Only 31% trust the news.
Meanwhile, in "the networks" that were said to bring us the "democratisation" of information and an extensive offer of alternative and independent channels to confront the generalist media commanded by banks, large investment funds and other vultures, companies continue to promote the mass fattening of bullshit based on hoaxes and AI-generated filth.
As a turbulent January kicked off marked by the warmongering of Trump's asshole, both in foreign and domestic "policy", and we were still recovering from the details of how the knave and Mr Julio Iglesias, who supposedly likes to get his ass sucked, treated the service, current affairs slapped us in the face and made us forget that and the rest of the issues.
On Sunday 18 January 2026, a tragic train accident occurred in Adamuz (Córdoba). An Iryo train covering the route from Malaga to Madrid derailed, invading the adjacent track and colliding with another Renfe Alvia train, which was travelling in the opposite direction to Huelva, which also derailed as a result of the collision. The accident caused 46 fatalities.
The first thing that came after the accident is what accompanies such events by default. An unbearable avalanche of faecal matter. The TV did not miss its appointment to wallow for hours in the jumble of iron and even its parody had"collateral damage".
No one missed the opportunity to shut up a bit before spouting any theories based on why potatoes. Those who only seconds before were immersed in their role as geopolitical experts mutated in seconds into specialists in anything about trains and tracks. All that noise was mixed with that of the politicians who are used to running to fish in unruly blood and that of the usual blanket of cuñaos who already knew everything because they had an Ibertren or because Fulanito_2006 had told them the whole truth that nobody wants you to know in a five-and-a-half second Tik Tok video.
That 37% of Spaniards in the report who say they avoid getting information seems to me to be a low percentage and not only do I understand it, but I recommend it as a regular activity for mental health. If we were to ask about serious alternatives to such a mountain of junk that they want to sell us as information, and if we were to add those who also shun "influencers", and all the variants of shouting "streamers", I am almost certain that we would be talking about much higher figures.
