Feijóo wants free media? I have a proposal too.

Yesterday he said it about the king, today it's Alberto Núñez Feijóo's turn. During the militant gathering last weekend, the PP leader stated, among many other frothy things, that he is committed to working for "free media." It's an idea he has been repeating here and there in recent months, with a metaphorical puffed-out chest and a friendly press attentively collecting his statements. It's a shame that actions don't match words that don't stand up to the slightest acid test.

If Feijóo were truly concerned about the independence of the media, perhaps he would have succeeded in ensuring that his party in Galicia—specifically in Galicia—would not have changed the law in order to configure the leadership of regional public broadcasting without having to seek political consensus. A law, by the way, also passed alone and which also eliminates professional bodies that could have provided a counterweight, such as the News Council or the Editorial Statute. And, certainly, a statesman concerned about the health of public media would not have appointed Concepción Pombo as general director. She was head of news at the entity since 2018 and whose service record includes having held the position for 416 years on Friday, of which 366 were black veins, which is what the internal protests in Galician radio and television over political manipulation and control were called. Dressing in mourning for journalism at the end of the week became a macabre custom among journalists alarmed by this trend. Feijóo is a politician and, therefore, can be a scattergun of promises, if that's his strategy. But in a country with more "free media," many more headlines would have picked up on them, accompanied by the appropriate context.