A year and a half ago, through the dispatches from Jerusalem by Roser Oliver and Almudena Ariza, we witnessed the pressure and intimidation suffered by journalists reporting on the war between Israel and Hamas at the hands of some citizens.
This Thursday night, in the NewscastWe saw a similar situation when correspondent Jordi Brescó was reporting on the demonstration of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews protesting against mandatory military service. A court ruling had ended the privilege they had enjoyed until now, exempting them from military service.
Brescó initially presented a general overview to highlight the sheer size of the demonstration, then joined the march to interview some of the participants. He gave a platform to two men who argued that studying Torah was incompatible with military service, but he also gathered the testimony of a small group of ultra-Orthodox Jews who, unlike the majority, had accepted the call to military service. The footage showed these men, dressed as soldiers, joining the demonstration with a banner defending their position, and Brescó held the microphone up to them so they could explain: "The Jewish world is more important than any state..." but the man couldn't continue because he was attacked by the demonstrators. His banner was torn down, and the police, to protect him, took him to the edge of the protest. There were more Israelis there demanding equal measures to integrate the ultra-Orthodox into the army: "I want them integrated into the country, the army, and everywhere," said another man, whose speech seemed to transcend this change in the law.
Brescó showed us the division not only within the Jewish people but also within the ultra-Orthodox sector. Unintentionally, the tension that the journalist reflected reveals a state of unrest and conflict in the country that goes beyond the perpetual war with Hamas and the Palestinian people. And it is also obvious that the presence of reporters brings to light the cracks and nuances that would otherwise be more difficult to detect. In fact, at the end of the report, Brescó mentioned the upcoming election campaign, pointing to even more pronounced divisions.
In other current affairs, on that same day, television channels echoed the government's intention to outlaw and dissolve the Francisco Franco Foundation. It is very telling how the public broadcasters, La 1 and TV3, delved into the reasons for the measure, how this institution transgresses the law, and the social context linked to historical memory and democracy. In contrast, private channels like Antena 3 and Telecinco mentioned the headline only fleetingly, as if it were an anecdotal matter. A symptomatic bias: journalism that understands its democratic responsibility versus a business model that tiptoes around the issue in pursuit of a dubious and highly suspicious neutrality.
