In the face of threats, more journalism

In these times when facts are manipulated to suit the interests of certain groups or sectors, and when the truth is cooked up to suit the consumer's taste to impose a certain narrative—whether true or not—serious, quality journalism, the kind that adds value, is more necessary than ever. However, the journalistic profession is going through one of its most difficult times for its free practice, within a context of polarization and the rise of populism that undermines the essential function of one of the pillars of democracy: a free and independent press. We have gone from "shooting the messenger"—a historical expression used to blame the informant for spreading truthful news about a third party—to intimidating them with all kinds of insults, threats, and abuse. These insults find their ideal habitat in social media, which have become havens of impunity and perfect channels for spreading hatred and terror. Journalists, not only in Spain, have been suffering from this harassment and intimidation practically since the birth of digital forums, often originating from extremist political parties, if not their own leaders. The publication of truthful and verified content is met with harsh criticism, without providing a single piece of data or evidence to support it. The sole objective is to discredit journalistic work and attempt to restrict professionals who fulfill their obligation to guarantee citizens the right to freely receive truthful information, as enshrined in Article 20 of the Spanish Constitution.

The recent events in the Murcia town of Torre Pacheco, where the attack on a resident by three North Africans unleashed a wave of racism and xenophobia fueled by extremist groups, have once again put journalists in the crosshairs of radicals. What's worse, the shift from words to actions has become a dangerous shift. The insults and provocations have made the dangerous leap from virtual to physical space.

At 'La Verdad', we experienced this unpleasant circumstance very recently in connection with our coverage of the riots in the Pacheco municipality, the scene of clashes between far-right gangs and agitated immigrants since last Friday. This is a veritable social powder keg that, from the very beginning, we have addressed in our newspaper with professionalism and honesty, putting verified facts before any kind of sensationalism, because the delicate situation required responsible reporting, regardless of the narratives that the agitators of the calls to go "on the hunt for the Moor" and parties like Vox, who not only have failed to condemn the riots, have encouraged them with their proclamations in favor of the mass deportations of undocumented foreigners, have tried to impose on us.

After several days of insults directed at our media outlet on social media, after echoing Abascal's party's proposal to expel some eight million illegal immigrants and their descendants from Spain—videos exist to prove its veracity, although Vox later reversed itself—this past Tuesday, in the midst of the Torre Pacheco crisis, we woke up to a banner in front of the newspaper's headquarters in Murcia bearing the following intimidating message: "Whitewashers of Immigrant Violence." The banner, put up in the early hours of the morning, was signed by Falange de las JONS (the Falange of the JONS) with the fascist shield of the yoke and arrows. It starts with spewing insults online, then attempts to intimidate with mafia-like messages and, why not, even physical attacks if necessary. The coercive drift seems to know no bounds, and in this totalitarian quagmire, we media professionals are forced to perform our necessary work, with the authorities with the power to legislate failing to do enough to expel from the system the intolerant individuals who seek to destroy media outlets that do not share their ideology.

This veto phenomenon is spreading like wildfire throughout the world's democracies. Populisms gain followers through simplistic solutions to complex, very complex problems , such as uncontrolled immigration. And to achieve this, they do not hesitate to deny the truth, no matter how obvious it may be, as evidenced—despite subsequent rectifications—by the mass expulsions of illegal immigrants proposed by the far right, which, greeted with jubilation by radicals and xenophobes, could serve as a pretext for violence.