Reader Ignasi Corral wrote me an email that raises the always important issue of information contrast. Corral, on the other hand, has firsthand knowledge of the environmental issue he's referring to me about. He was a councilor for Sant Llorenç de Hortons City Council and once intervened in a matter of land pollution in highway zones.
"I am a regular reader of your diary," he writes. "Today [February 19] I was able to read a news regarding a large industrial estate to be built by Ametller Origen in Mont-roig and another in Gelida/Hortons, disguised as an agricultural park. I've been able to read a good portion of the project for the second large industrial estate, and it's an environmental nonsense that's already in the courts or preliminary rulings. But the editor, Silvia Barcia, doesn't take into account the significant opposition in the area or the disastrous environmental consequences. She says nothing and just moves on.
I worked with Huertas Claveria for a few years, and whenever I read news that seems like advertising, I remember him and how Samaranch once told journalists, "Write about what interests people." In short, I think it's an insult to readers' intelligence to massage the owners and pass it off as journalism.
I've forwarded Ignasi Corral's criticism to Albert Martín, Head of Economics, where the article would be published. He responded:
"Indeed, in recent years there has been opposition from environmental organizations to the Almendro Origen project in Gelida. In this case, the company was talking about a new project in Mont-roig, which we found interesting, on the one hand, due to the magnitude of the investment (50 million euros) and the need to produce in the segment where it is growing the most and the flagship of its stores.
"As head of economics, I do a lot of teaching, in the sense that companies are entities that deserve the newspaper's full support when they do positive things, in the wake of the war in Ukraine. We firmly believe that when Catalan companies make investment bets like this, it should be news, just as when they make mistakes, we should be able to explain them and be critical.
"Regarding the Gelida AgroParc: as we said, in this news we did not remember that it is a project that has had opposition. It is also true that at the time the newspaper published parts that they picked it upWe did, in fact, prioritize the project that was discussed on Wednesday the 19th, which was the Mont-roig project.
The Code of Ethics for the Journalistic Profession does not prescribe the verification of information; it only points out in Annex D, recommendations on war or armed conflicts, "giving a voice to all actors involved." The least mandatory approach is to verify in real time any source that makes a statement. Precisely for this reason, politics has implemented parallel news-making countermeasures: the opposition press conference immediately after the government's (in any format) or a social response, such as a demonstration, simultaneous to the statement of the source proclaiming a news story. In case reader Corral asks, we see from the response of the head of Economics at ARA that there has been a delayed verification of the opposite, with a previous article that echoed the environmental protests.
Despite the lack of a precept of contrast, it is evident that it is good practice, and even more so when invoking, as reader Corral does, a journalist as professional, honest, and beloved by this Ombudsman as Josep M. Huertas, whose legacy lives on. ARA, for example, officially contrasted the speech of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, in his parliamentary appearance on March 19 regarding the railway chaos; as is not surprising that notes of background that place it in its context.
Barça women's team. "Play it again, Sam."
Reader Josep M. Puig i Baiget is happily attentive to how ARA handles women's football. Between complaints, responses, and my own dealings with the editorial team, I count twenty-five email interactions after nearly a year in my role as Readers' Advocate. I appreciate this, because it demonstrates a reader who not only reads but is also concerned about the product and is proactive in interacting.
But I am also grateful because current civic spirit owes permanent activism to gender issues, and women's football, for the great interest it arouses - surely one of the share taller with 100% female protagonists – is a great and attractive display of a topic that constantly challenges us because, no matter what we do, many years will have to pass before history can make a zipper list of itself.
Resolving reader Puig's penultimate email, from the 13th, has been a novel of computer intrigue, because it concerned a piece of the digital news we couldn't find. The deputy editor of the web edition, Isidre Estévez, gave me a tutorial on how online news works, which are frequently refreshed and in which the latest version, so to speak, swallows the previous one. The criticism in question referred to the limited attention given to the second leg of the Queen's Cup, but the final result was that the treatment was what it deserved, both in the digital version and in the subsequent print edition: detailed Albert Nadal chronicles with photography.
Even last Thursday, the 27th, the reader attacked again—I say this with all due affection and considering the "attack" in football terms—: he denounced the lack of advance coverage of the Champions League match, while, on the other hand, there was coverage of the men's La Liga match against Osasuna. The match that secured the women's qualification for the Champions League semi-finals was, however, given the proper coverage—article and hierarchy—both online and in print.
This is, evidently, the line to follow and the meeting point between the reader and the newspaper. And the mediation of the Ombudsman, who, already in his first section –May 12, 2024– I touched on the subject of women's football, following a comment by Josep M. Puig i Baiget. I shared the final sequence of Casablanca with him, when he said, "We'll become friends in the end."Play it again, Sam".
The Readers' Ombudsman pays attention to doubts, suggestions, criticisms and complaints about the contents of the newspaper in its digital and paper editions, and ensures that the treatment of information is in accordance with the codes of ethics.
By contact the Readers' Ombudsman You can send an email to eldefensor@ara.cat or record a message of no more than one minute on WhatsApp at 653784787. In all cases, identification with your name, surname, and ID number is required.
