And what about the ranking of press manipulation by country?

Reporters Without Borders has published its valuable annual report, which ranks countries according to their press freedom. Spain comes out very well, climbing seven places to number 23 in the ranking. Despite gag lawsDespite judicial pressures and threats, despite rampant job insecurity, it's obvious that Europe in general is an oasis of relative tranquility for journalists worldwide, who can generally carry out their work without seeing their safety threatened. The mortgage is another matter.

Now, I wonder if press freedom directly equates to higher-quality journalism. It's a requirement, certainly, but I think there's a fundamental aspect that escapes this health diagnosis drawn up by RSF: the manipulations carried out from the perspective of presumed freedom. Perhaps it's a professional deformation and more than twelve years of writing this daily column, but it seems to me that the communications landscape in Spain presents very glaring deficiencies. And there are many media outlets that consciously do poor journalism because their objective is to advance a political agenda, even at the expense of current events. It would be good to know how many honest journalists feel the main problem is the leaders of their news organizations, and whether these pressures from above—of political and economic origin—are also reflected in the usual rankings or are made invisible so that they can be carried out within the media. Because if the twenty-third best state in press freedom offers a balance so full of manipulation, misinformation, andfake newsWe will have to start asking ourselves whether journalists are the victims or part of the problem.