Fighting the war on fiction

The shakeup that wasn’t and its future consequences has been the main story in the last few days, but right underneath the radar was the latest development in...

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TNT’s series “Legends” stars British actor Sean Bean, better known for many as the “Winter is Coming” guy.

The shakeup that wasn’t and its future consequences has been the main story in the last few days, but right underneath the radar was the latest development in the “Media War” the central government claims to be waging.

A few days ago, Information Minister Delcy Rodriguez went ballistic on Twitter, accusing the TNT TV series “Legends” of conspiring. Her beef? In one of its episodes, a criminal confesses to an undercover FBI agent that Nicolás Maduro and the PSUV were using a middleman to buy a chemical weapon in order to use it against demonstrators.

Inmediately, the head of the Venezuean broadcasting authority (CONATEL) William Castillo announced that it would open an investigation against the show. After all, Ms. Rodriguez is his boss.

Here’s the thing… “Legends” wasn’t shown in Venezuela. The show was aired on TNT USA, not on TNT Latin America which is the one we get on cable over here. Therefore, Mr. Castillo has no case to investigate whatsoever. Yet FOX 21, the production company behind the show has publicly apologized while insisting this was only a work of fiction. And in a matter of coincidence, FOX 21 also produces “Homeland”, which used the Tower of David in an episode.

However, that didn’t stop Mr. Castillo from pushing the “mediatic war” angle. It’s so real they’re getting money for it.

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