The media have always been the object of the desire of the powers that be, with the aim of controlling the message that reaches the people, knowing the influence it have on them.
The government in power, and the party that supports it, does not leave control of public media to chance. To do this, they choose the political commissaries, disguised as professionals who are put in charge of the means to achieve their objectives. Freedom of the press and plurality are collateral things that lose legitimacy in the face of the desire to control everything that gets broadcast. Nothing can be left to chance.
During the long dictatorship of General Franco, the information structure in Spain was canceled. At first in the press, but later the effects of radio and later television as important media with direct public impact suffered. The information gave way to the regime's propaganda, to State control and official censorship reaches its maximum expression. However, this new policy of media control was not exclusive only to public media; private communication companies were subject to the same conditions.
Absolute control of the news on the radio. Spanish National Radio had the exclusivity of the information services, known as "Diarios hablados", (Spoken News) and the private ones listened in to be able to inform their listeners of what was happening in Spain and in the rest of the World. Of course, not before having gone through the censorship filter, and having been properly seasoned with the regime propaganda that sells us a great, free and prosperous Spain.
With the arrival of democracy, the situation changed radically. Radio stations were authorized to have their own information services, press freedom and private television channels was authorized.
With the constitution of the Regions (Autonomous Communities), these created their own means and new licenses of private radio and TV were also granted. The misfortune is that the autonomous governments reproduced the patterns of the state: direct control of public media by the governments of the day and the configuration of a whole celestial court of media clientelism through subsidies and direct and indirect advertising.
None of the autonomous communities, nor the State's media, is free from blame. However, there are autonomous governments whose absolute control of the media is really outrageous, as in the case of TV3 and Catalunya Radio. Created in its day by the ex-president Pujol, with an unhealthy obsession of total control of its start-up and development. That was possible because professionals close to their ideology or directly from their party, CDC, were put in charge of these media without the slightest scruple.
At present, and for many years now, TV3 and Catalunya Radio have been acting as spokespeople for the independence movement, leaving behind its purpose of public service, pluralism and objectivity. The two media have skipped their code of ethics, deontology, professional etc.
The Audiovisual Council of Catalonia (CAC), in the hands of the PDeCat and ERC, have repeatedly ignored all warnings and criticisms from political parties. On repeated occasions, reports have been approved with the casting vote of its president, given that three of the councilors did not want to vote for them, having expressed their individual voting preference.
To be aware of the current situation of the public media, especially the Catalonians and the role of the unconditional support for the independence movement, TEJ provides you with experts opinion, which will give you a better indication will give about the current state of affairs and shed give more light to the serious crisis of informative totalitarians that are being imposed by both TV3 and Catalunya Radio, without anyone being able to put an end this situation until now.
