Laura Grau: "A Catalan swagger sphere is beginning to emerge. We cannot be distracted"

BarcelonaWinner of the last edition of the Crit awards for best content creator, and last year's Sonor award, Laura Grau defends an ethical and political dimension of activity on social media, where banality or commercial interests are often rewarded. In this interview, she details the difficulties of making a living from social media in Catalan and analyzes the challenges Catalan faces to survive in the hostile internet environment.

Do you feel like an influencer?

— Influencer is a big word that has been so perverted that no one knows exactly what it means anymore. If it means that you influence people, I suppose a little, even if it's proportional to how much people look at me. That is, if I can get someone to go to a demonstration, to an interesting cultural event, or adopt a lifestyle that is for the common good... then, perfect, I love being one. However, if it means that they have no trade or benefit, that they are a superficial person and are constantly trying to sell you things through their Instagram profile... I don't think I am.

What you are not, as you state in your Instagram bio, is a journalist. A statement of principles?

— More of a reaction. Whenever they try to discredit me for the ideas I convey, I am criticized by saying that I do bad journalism or that I put my opinion into it. And I say, excuse me, I am not a journalist, a profession for which I have a lot of respect. People who do journalism don't do what I do, what I do is something else.

And what would it be?

— I do entertainment. It is true that I often find that there are initiatives that do not have enough visibility through conventional media and I try to give them coverage through my channel, where there is always a point of opinion because I don't know how to keep quiet and it's immediately clear where I stand. And I try to be rigorous with the facts. I suppose I do what they call info-entertainment, because you explain phenomena, facts, and initiatives with a fun, comic, personal, and authentic touch. This is what we need most right now in terms of communication.

What are the media missing?

— It is this point of authenticity. Reaching the public in a more everyday, more customary way. Before, it was a function that perhaps radio performed, which has this feedback that is synchronous, super interesting and unique, because the internet cannot replace it, even if it tries. In the end, it is saying: “This is happening in your city, in your neighborhood”.

Between radio and videos, do you have a preference?

— The big problem we have with videos is that everything can be taken out of context. They go to the archives and pull out a clip about what you thought of something 10 years ago and it turns out you've changed your mind 20 times, but you're still being judged for that moment. Interaction with the audience is not as honest as with the radio. People vomit things in the comments... authentic aberrations from anonymous users.

Does taking a political stance add or subtract?

— It has always added to me. I have often had the fear of thinking "Now you will say this about housing or about I don't know what and the doors of collaborators, sponsorships, or conventional media that could give you a section will close for you". But no: what has contributed most to my professional career has been my opinions, many with political connotations.

Has considerado alguna vez la política?

— Yes, but I would never see myself at a regional level, for example. Now, a council of a municipality where I live for a few years... we could talk about it. But it would have to be many years and, for the moment, since I still don't know where I want to live, nothing. But like that, bigger, no.

Have you ever heard siren songs?

— To present myself on a list? No. But I did say no to creating paid content for a political party, because for me it's a red line.

Media or networks. What pays better?

— Right now, a collaboration on social media might be like four radio segments. It's much more worthwhile to communicate through networks than to be in the media. I always try to ensure that all the collaborations I do contribute something to the common good or at least don't detract from it. That it's not people who exploit workers, who evict people from their homes to speculate, who engage in unfair competition with smaller businesses...

And that makes you say not often?

— I say no, and I do it without asking about the budget because I don't want them to tempt me with that! I don't even want to know how much money they are offering me.

Have you ever said yes reluctantly, when you remembered the balance?

— Yes, I have done it before, but without being aware of it.

In what sense?

— Sometimes they offer you proposals that they believe may seem interesting to you, but with a trick. For example, when they are trying to whitewash their image with a talk about mental health, but behind it is CaixaBank. And then you say, damn, I've fallen for it again and I hadn't thought that this sponsor was involved.

How can content in Catalan compete with better conditions in a market dominated by English and Spanish?

— Besides public investment, which is already being done, private investment would also need to be found. That Catalan companies say: "We want to reach an audience that is closer to us and therefore speaks Catalan." That they put money into advertising and collaborations with content creators in Catalan, and thus there are more economic possibilities for people to dedicate themselves to it. And also that the audience gets more used to watching this type of content. Otherwise, it seems that the only way you can consume content is in Spanish or English.

You were given the Sonor Award last year and this year the Crit Award. Do these recognitions help?

— What excites me most about an award is when people stop me on the street and say, “Thank you very much for the work you do; I went to this event because you mentioned it existed.” It’s cool that they award a career, but there’s no economic endowment and the prestige it might have is relative: this industry has existed for five or six years and the top players are always the same, which also says a lot in their favor: the best content creator is still Juliana Canet, the best podcast is perhaps still La Sotana... Every year it’s the same people, so the awards end up being giving little candies to everyone so we stay motivated.

Motivation doesn't count?

— The most important thing is resources and this, in principle, should come from the House of Creation, which is a very recent initiative. And I hope that the impulse also arises in other places independent of public institutions, because otherwise it's the typical thing: when everything is subsidized, you don't have as much freedom. I respect these juries as professionals in the communication sector, but in the digital sector it is very difficult to be a professional, because we have not had time yet.

Don't you feel like an established professional?

— In Catalonia, perhaps I am one of those who has been doing this for the longest and has managed to dedicate myself to it almost entirely, something that many people cannot say. I suppose that makes me a professional, but I feel that there is still a lot of room, both to learn and to grow in unexpected directions. What disturbs me most about this job is that I really like stability, routine, and control, and this job... is the complete opposite! I can't know what I'll be doing in two years, three, four, five years, whether this will make any sense, whether Elon Musk will have pressed a crazy button that will stop everything and it will no longer make sense to communicate on social media...

Let's try to narrow it down a bit, this professional thing, with base metal. From zero to ten, what level of material well-being does this job allow you?

— Wow, compared to what? What is 10?

Elon Musk! No, we would all be zeros. 10 is paying all your monthly expenses without having to check your balance even once.

— Mmm... I'd say a six. I suppose a little above average, if I compare myself to my friends and the people who live in Barcelona, who have to spend a lot of money on rent. It seems to me that an indicator of a good life is being able to be at a table and say: I'll pay for this round and you don't need to send me a bizum. Of course, beer isn't a great luxury, but it does make me see that I have a bit more peace of mind than those closest to me.

In the United States, Trump won the elections thanks to TikTok. In Spain, there is also a strong presence of neo-fascist discourses on social networks. Is there also a Catalan fatxosphere?

— This fat-sphere is starting to emerge, we can't get distracted. There are many people who are making the discourse that Catalan Alliance makes and saying that there is a lot of insecurity in the neighborhoods, stabbings every day, that you can go down to buy bread and when you return they have occupied your house... We already have these kinds of discourses in Catalan. What I don't know is if they are financed or not by parties, as happens in other countries.

How should it be faced?

— Showing daily life. The most effective way to demonstrate that these lies about migration are false is by showing how activities are carried out in the neighborhood with people who have come from all over, who have learned the language, and who have integrated perfectly. And who work in jobs as diverse as those your group of friends might have. Coexistence in general dismantles myths, and you can showcase it through social networks with initiatives such as, for example, the Top Manta race, which is a great reference.

If there is a far-right, is there also a far-left?

— Right now, in Catalonia, there is no far-left. It is a concept that is being used precisely to discredit all these discourses in favor of the common good and that involve them losing privileges. Because if we aspire for everyone to have a roof over their head, someone has to lose their landlord income. There are people who are interested in saying that this is also equally hate speech. But wanting a roof for everyone is not equivalent to wanting people to have nothing.

As EVA values, the 3Cat platform aimed at young people?

— Now it's starting to do it well. I understand that at first you have to throw all the balls trusting that some will go in, but of course, if we look at all the ones that haven't gone in, you say: damn, what a huge waste of resources. I suppose they have finally started to see that there is a much wider range of audience than they thought. There is the ultra-mega-young person who creates very bland content, which started like this and was a bit scary, but now through La turra and other programs it has already been seen that it can diversify and go to more profiles. But they still have the challenge of connecting more with this everyday life, going out more on the street. Not so much making reports about the prices of ice cream as showing what young people are currently doing to transform their environment.

A controversial decision is to bring to 3Cat influencers who have built their careers in Spanish, such as Laura Escanes or Dulceida, to try to attract their audiences to the Corporation's media. What do you think?

— Bad, I see it badly and I'm not afraid to say it. It makes no sense that you try to promote the creation of content in Catalan through awards like Crit, but that you put a person to present them who presents a program on 3cat but who creates content in Spanish on their profiles. Oh, they are very good communicators, they tell you. Very well, but these people didn't become famous for that, you know? We discovered that they were very good communicators because they started creating content in Spanish. But we also have very good communicators in Catalan and we are all a bit on the margins, trying to do more lateral projects: some on EVA, some radio segments, some on iCat programs... The big pie, on the other hand, ends up going to content creators who have forged their careers in Spanish. The message being given to those who have done it in Catalan is that...

Spanish is a shortcut.

— You are telling them that, to enter conventional media, the strategy is to become famous in Spanish. With this, we should indeed become tougher and more radical and say no, that the linguistic policy of this house must be to prioritize Catalan communicators, whether it's people who have grown up on the internet, like people who have their good degree in audiovisual communication or journalism and who have done all the merits and small jobs that must be done at the beginning to work in a big media outlet. If you don't put this on the table, don't expect to have credibility with awards.

Are young people well represented in the media?

— No, no, of course. Very isolated realities of people with an average-high quality of life are shown. We also show the reality of neighborhoods and a much humbler leisure, which doesn't mean it's worse, or for the poor, or anything: they are simply happy going for a beer in a park, even if that doesn't look so glamorous or isn't of interest to capital. But, of course, the restaurant industry wants you to go to restaurants and take pictures. Or the fashion industry. There is a huge network for clothing exchange recycling and many social initiatives that also provide paid work. We show that too, not just the brand of the moment, which is a start-up by two posh kids who didn't precisely start in a garage.

Due to your exposure to social media, are you suffering from aesthetic pressure?

— I am very grateful to have reached a point where I can dedicate myself to this at 30 years old and not at 20. I have much more awareness about what it means to be constantly seen, to be criticized for my physical appearance, or to have surreal role models that you cannot see yourself in because they have had their entire face operated on and an absurdly athletic body that you could never achieve. But it is true that seeing your face so many hours a day ends up generating insecurities that you wouldn't have if you lived when there were no screens and you didn't constantly see yourself in this mirror. I try not to let it affect me and I am managing to have a very healthy community that does not send me messages related to my physical appearance.

The algorithm promotes everyone to look beautiful. How are you doing?

— Sometimes I have contradictions and any Catalan communicator or content creator could tell you this: you notice that a specific video is reaching further because you look very pretty in it. If you can take advantage of this to send a much more important message than just that you are very beautiful, perfect. If at the end you reach a point where your content is based on going viral just because you are showing yourself in this way... consider a little who you are reaching and why.