As MRC Latino has pointed out in recent years, the most outrageous examples of deliberately distorted and false news in U.S. Spanish-language television have not come from the usual suspects like Univision, Telemundo or CNN en Español, but rather from lesser known rivals, such as Los Angeles-based Estrella TV.
This past Thanksgiving Eve, however, LBI Media, Inc., the holding company of Estrella TV, filed for bankruptcy. According to the filing, the company faces dwindling revenues due to competition from digital media, along with a massive $530 million dollar debt load.
Perhaps Estrella TV will be able to successfully restructure, and if it does it would do well to consider providing a real alternative to the country’s Spanish-language television viewers by not continuing to try to outflank Univision, Telemundo or CNN en Español from the left, as it has been doing so far.
On the inauspicious occasion of its bankruptcy, below is a compendium of the kind of dishonest journalism at Estrella TV that to date has made the network a laughingstock and national embarrassment in Spanish-language journalism.
VOICE-OVER ANNOUNCER, ESTRELLA TV: Now live for all of the United States.
DONALD TRUMP: .. drive them out of this earth
VOICE-OVER ANNOUNCER, ESTRELLA TV: Donald Trump continues to show he is a racist president. His hatred towards Muslims has no comparison.
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ADRIANA YAÑEZ, NEWS ANCHOR, ESTRELLA TV: Donald Trump silences journalists. Only those who support him are welcome at the White House.
DONALD TRUMP: That´s enough. Put down de mic…
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ADRIANA YAÑEZ, NEWS ANCHOR, ESTRELLA TV: And Donald Trump doesn’t stop surprising Americans with his acts of madness. Now, he’s asked for a military parade to intimidate his enemies. Oscar Sosa has more.
OSCAR SOSA, REPORTER, ESTRELLA TV: In the exact style of Kim Jon Un or Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump has asked for a military parade to show off American power and emphasize his role as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
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ADRIANA YAÑEZ, NEWS ANCHOR, ESTRELLA TV: Greetings, this is Adriana Yañez with the most relevant news of the day. And the U.S. President continues making grave errors in his foreign policy, which have made him the worst ruler in history. We hand it off to Dayanis López who has all the details.
Estrella TV’s holding company owns 10 television stations and 17 radio stations, operating the Estrella TV network along with a host of radio networks, including La Raza Radio.
