TV3 journalists denounce the censorship of a documentary on flood zones.

BarcelonaFlood alert is a documentary that sheds light on the pressure allegedly received by technicians from the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) to sign favorable reports for construction projects in areas at risk of flooding, in the midst of the real estate bubble. The piece was scheduled to premiere this Tuesday on TV3, but the news department has postponed it, without a date, and has argued that it does not meet the journalistic standards of the house. Those responsible for the work, according to Octuvre.cat, believe they are victims of "disguised censorship" and have obtained the support of both the Nights without fiction which was supposed to be offered as part of the professional council, the body that represents journalists at Catalan public television.

Directed by Laia Mestre, produced by Manoli Vargas, and produced by Marta Rigau, this team claims that the decision to push it out of the scheduled date came after a meeting with TV3's deputy director, Clara Cabezas, the head of news, Albert Calatrava, and the director of the documentary department, David B. The main point of the conflict is the inclusion of several anonymous witnesses. They report that this was communicated to them days before by Calatrava and Bassa, who said that the documentary would not be broadcast if the section in which former employees speak without identifying themselves was not eliminated. The authors of the documentary argue that the fact that they are not named and the specific projects affected are not detailed is to protect them from possible reprisals and they remind people of their professional obligation to protect their sources.

"All these witnesses denounce systemic practices that explain, in part, the high rate of building capacity in Catalonia, and the experts interviewed in the program openly enumerate and confirm them on screen," wrote the documentary's makers to the professional council, asking for protection. And they pointed out that the warning about those witnesses arrived, as they specify, the day after the head of documentaries warned the head of communications for the Territory department about the content ofFlood alert.

The team also explains that, finally, on Monday, September 22, they were able to interview someone representing the ACA for the piece, after months of waiting and several requests from the team. "When the team entered the ACA headquarters to conduct this interview, the agency's head of communications, Montse Alomà, warned them that the whistleblowers' testimony would be removed from the documentary, as this had been agreed upon by Territori's head of communications, Esther Domingo, with David Bassa," the authors of the piece wrote.

Bassa, in a statement to this newspaper, assures that "this is categorically false. There has never been any agreement to avoid questions or silence anything. If anyone has said this, it is a lie." "The only thing that happened was an internal journalistic debate, and I'm sorry it was misinterpreted. In fact, I ended up getting the ACA interview myself, after unsuccessful attempts by the team," he added.

TV3 denies censorship

Meanwhile, network executives deny any censorship and insist they were simply asked to continue working to clarify allegations that, on screen, seemed too vague. In fact, the witnesses in question were not even silhouetted, nor did they have distorted voices; instead, actors performed their statements. "They have been asked to continue working on the Non-fiction to incorporate all the testimonies and voices mentioned in the documentary, but in no case has anything been censored or stopped. The documentary must be impeccable from a journalistic point of view, and work is being done in this regard," a spokesperson for the Corporation told ARA.

The controversy has prompted the professional council to issue a harsh statement, in which it openly speaks of "censorship." It considers the arguments of the news management "unacceptable." "We consider this behavior intolerable, and it is not the first time it has occurred," they state, and regret that it is not an isolated incident. Non-fiction and to 30 minutes, when a government department or relevant institution is at stake, have been a constant for some time. There is no climate of professional freedom." In this specific case, the statement contains strong criticism of Bassa: "He seems to work more for the interests of the ACA and the Department of Territory than to protect and defend the rigorous work of TV3 professionals."

to be able to offer his version: "They issued the note without verifying or speaking to me, so that I could explain that the person who claimed to have made a pact with me was not telling the truth." Water for a long period of time. In addition, he spoke with other people involved who did not want to provide their testimony in the documentary, but who confirm the bad practices. Authoritative voices from experts are also seen corroborating this," they conclude.