Language Research

Updated (January 2007)

BELGIUM IN A PANIC OVER FAKE DECLARATION OF FLEMISH INDEPENDENCE

Television viewers across Belgium were in uproar after the Belgian French-speaking TV channel RTBF interrupted its programming on 13 December 2006 for a special news bulletin reporting that the Flemish Parliament had suddenly created an independent Flemish state separate from Belgium.

However, during the broadcast it became clear that the report was actually a documentary meant to stir up the debate on the position of the states and regions in federal Belgium. Walloon Minister of Media, Fadila Laanan, said that the message "this is fiction" appeared only at her request, after she had received several "panic" calls and text messages.

During the report, the King Albert II of Belgium was alleged to have left the country to show his disagreement with the unilateral Flemish decision.

Several prominent Flemish politicians played along with the scenario, including the Speaker of the Chamber of Representatives, Herman DeCroo, giving their reaction to the news and explaining some of their views on Flemish independence. There were images of people celebrating in Antwerp and flag-waving independence supporters in front of the Royal Palace in Laken, but also trams stuck at the "new border", and traffic jams in the direction of Brussels Airport. After a while more comedy entered the report; two Flemish policemen were shown to be called into action to patrol the border, and Guy Vanhengel (VLD) was interviewed inside the Atomium monument, the symbol of Belgium, where he spoke of a "monumental" mistake. The report was followed by a debate on the subject of the Flemish independence movement.

The head of news at RTBF reacted: "We obviously scared many people - maybe more than we expected," and this was indeed the case. A spokesman of Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt stated that the newspaper Le Monde had already called them, and that the US broadcaster CNBC carried the story as real news for some time. Several embassies reported the news to their countries, and a Belgian representative in the European Parliament reported "consternation". A survey by the RTBF shows that 89 percent of spectators admit being fooled by the report, with even 6 percent continuing to believe it after the fiction notice appeared.

Leaders on both sides of the country spelled out their appall: Elio Di Rupo said it was unacceptable to play with the institutions and the stability of the country. On the other hand, Yves Leterme, Minister-President of the Flemish government, regretted that some of the Flemish demands were caricatured. Pro-independence politicians such as Filip Dewinter and Bart De Wever did not hide their approval of the fake news report while several other politicians have criticized the method used by the RTBF, and expected that this would reflect badly on the credibility and reputation of the channel as the usual RTBF news studio and anchorman were used to make the fictional report.

This incident was headline news in Belgium - it came at a time of a growing discussions on the topic of granting Flanders more independence from Belgium, one year before the elections.

Source: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Fictional_documentary_about_Flemish_independence_causes_consternation_in_Belgium

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