When someone labels you as “garca”, “dishonest”, “false”, “dog-faced”, “hard-faced” and “cynical” they are not doing journalism. You will understand that I will not devote more energy to this unfortunate event. The priority is Uruguay and that is our horizon. pic.twitter.com/g0WfQPcEWk
— Yamandú Orsi (@OrsiYamandu) November 20, 2024
After the altercation that occurred on Wednesday, when the journalist Ignacio Alvarez tried to obtain by force an interview with the candidate of the Frente Amplio, Yamandu Orsiin the middle of a noisy press conference that was interrupted by the aforementioned communicator, the candidate made a statement on social networks.
“As you well know, I have always been very respectful towards each and every press worker. There are limits to democratic coexistence that I will not let go. Not everything is worth it,” Orsi’s tweet thread on the X.com network began.
“When someone labels you as ‘garca’, ‘dishonest’, ‘false’, ‘dog-faced’, ‘brazen’ and ‘cynical’ they are not doing journalism. You will understand that I will not devote more energy to this unfortunate event. The priority is Uruguay and that is our horizon,” Orsi added, while sharing a video with all the insults mentioned, issued by Álvarez.
At the same time, in his program Santo y Seña, Álvarez made public the fact that Channel 4 had asked him not to broadcast videos of the encounters with Orsi (or with José Mujica, whose bodyguards he also had clashes with).
The journalist had also released images allegedly recorded secretly in which he is seen having a private conversation with Orsi (the previous Friday, after leaving his interview with Orlando Petinatti), without clarifying whether or not the Broad Front candidate knew that he was being recorded.
“Everything else is unfair”
Journalist Mario Duarte, producer and journalist from MVD Noticias and Lado B, from TV Ciudad, came out to criticize the way in which Álvarez behaved as a journalist in the face of Orsi’s refusal to give him an interview, and He compared him to the Spanish journalist, Javier Negre, owner of the far-right media outlet La Derecha Diario..
“Uruguayan journalists have ways, methods and procedures to approach interviewees. The note is requested or authorization to record is requested. Everything else is unfair. The method applied by @igalvar71 is very similar to that of @javiernegre10”, he began reflecting.
Then, he recalled that Álvaro Delgado, candidate of the National Party, “did not accept in any instance to come as an interviewee on Lado B of TV Ciudad, and neither did Yamandú Orsi in this last instance in October and November. And they have every right.”
“But becoming a victim that ‘they are hitting him’ and not respecting colleagues who, like him, waited to make a respectful approach, makes it more evident that this type of practice, 4 days before the elections, is not journalistic” Duarte concluded.
The clash between Álvarez and Orsi: “You are not that important”
The journalist Ignacio Álvarez, known for his controversial and challenging style, had an altercation this Wednesday with the former president of the Republic, José ‘Pepe’ Mujica. After following him at a short distance and speaking directly to his face, a bodyguard intervened, moving Álvarez aside to allow Mujica and his wife, Lucia Topolanskyaccess your vehicle.
In the middle of the confrontation, Álvarez, visibly upset, exclaimed: “But what is this? What is this guy who starts hitting me?” Mujica tried to calm the situation by taking the journalist by the arm and, after inviting him to remain silent, he responded: “No… Who is going to hit you?”. Despite this, Álvarez continued to follow him to the car door. In the brief exchange they had before the former president got into the vehicle, they barely managed to exchange a few words.
In a similar situation, Álvarez met the Frente Amplio candidate, Yamandú Orsi, at a political event. Orsi has refused to participate in his program due to the multiple insults that, according to him, he has received from the communicator. After Orsi’s interview with Semanario Busqueda in Magnolio’s studios, Álvarez waited for him and followed him for a considerable time. This same place had been the scene of the altercation with Mujica’s security.
It should be noted that, given Orsi’s refusal to attend his program, Álvarez had resorted to creating an artificial intelligence-generated version of Orsi, which he used in a fictitious debate against the then Colorado candidate, Andrés Ojeda. In the midst of the confusion and bustle, Orsi approached Álvarez, who continued to insist on asking him some questions. “Excuse me, excuse me from the press,” Orsi commented, making an apologetic gesture with his hands.
When Álvarez insisted that the interview would not take place, he told him: “You have insulted me again and again… an interview is done with respect. You’re not that important… you’re not that important. you keep talking bad to me”Orsi replied as he walked away.
