An imbalance in the couples on the 'Telenoticias'

We have already been able to see all the editions of the Newscast and appreciate their characteristics without the pressure of initial exposure. There's one aspect that TV3 has reinforced in this new era, one that's common to many other television channels and that's part of a long-standing inertia. It has to do with the new presenting duos. In the midday edition, we now have Xavi Coral with Anna Garnatxe, and on weekends, Júlia López with Joan Raventós. Both television couples have one thing in common: their age difference.

There's a seventeen-year age gap between Xavi Coral (1971) and Anna Garnatxe (1988). There's a sixteen-year age gap between Joan Raventós (1978) and Júlia López (1994). This age gap between men and women already existed in the previous era with Ramon Pellicer (1960) and Cristina Riba (1980), with a twenty-year age gap between them. On the other hand, the most well-balanced couple, that of Xavi Coral and Raquel Sans (1974), only three years apart in age, is the one that has fallen apart. Symptomatic. And it's no coincidence. It's surprising that, in this renewal that embraces modernity, TV3 has fallen, once again, into this outdated trend. It's outdated because historically it has an implicit symbolic hierarchy. Age has nothing to do with the capacity and professionalism of all of them when it comes to tackling this task, but it does convey a very old-fashioned message. Traditionally, the role of seniority is assigned to men, a role that favors them in the values of experience, authority, and leadership (so associated with credibility). This is reinforced by having a young woman at their side. In this television context of pairing with more experienced men, women are associated with youth and attractiveness, which are virtues considered complementary in news reporting. Television is about image, and it's obvious that the bar set by the hegemonic canons of beauty is also much more demanding for women. It's unfair, because everyone is there because of their professional worth, without a doubt. But they're dragged into a television tyranny from another era. So much vertical screen, so much technology, and so much modernity, only to fall into one of the most patriarchal and stale television stereotypes. This also reveals the enormous difficulty women journalists face in aging in front of the screen. Ramon Pellicer was able to present the Newscast until the age of sixty-five. Will Raquel Sans, Núria Solé, Anna Garnatxe, Júlia López and so many other presenters on public television be able to do the same?

Speaking of disproportion in the NewscastThere are also other types. These vertical screens create ridiculous images. They turn television presenters into miniatures, alongside projected images where correspondents, editors, and news stars appear gigantic. In any edition, the presenters are reduced to endearing little creatures in the middle of the set. Visually, this is an incoherent message when it comes to conveying authority and credibility.