Congressional journalists stand up to attacks from far-right agitators

MadridThis Tuesday, the press room of the Congress of Deputies was empty—with the exception of far-right agitators—and parliamentary journalists did not ask questions of the party spokespersons. It was an act of protest agreed upon after an employee of an ultra-right digital platform, to whom the lower house issues journalist accreditation, disrupted the first press conference of the day, that of Sumar spokesperson Verónica Martínez Barbero. The actions of Bertrand Ndongo, of the far-right channel Periodista Digital, triggered a discontent that He has been expressing himself for more than two years now by media professionals and progressive politicians alike. Ndongo and other far-right agitators, such as Vito Quiles of Estado de Alarma TV (Eda TV), are dedicated to harassing and targeting both representatives of the Plurinational majority and journalists, whom they have even threatened by publishing their names and photographs on social media. Quiles even warned that he would spread information about their addresses.

Efforts to stop them, so far, have failed to elicit a strong response from Congress's communications officers, who have been repeatedly told that these agitators are hindering the work of others and disregarding standards of ethics and conduct. In Ndongo's case, this Tuesday he took the floor during question time without being granted permission by the Sumar press officers, monopolizing it. Despite warnings from Martínez Barbero, who warned him that he would only respond to "real journalists," the far-right agitator continued to raise his voice. "I ask you to be quiet. To me, it's background noise," the Sumar spokesperson insisted. When a journalist from the Efe news agency, who was given the first turn, tried to ask a question, Ndongo's shouts prevented her from completing her question. The Sumar team ended up confronting Ndongo, who refused to back down. Martínez Barbero eventually left the press room without the other journalists being able to ask any questions.

Immediately afterward, the other journalists went to the office of the Congressional communications officer to denounce, once again, that the presence of these far-right agitators, who use the press room to generate videos with this type of intimidation and confrontations, prevents them from working normally in the press room. The response was, as usual, that they can't do anything because they would be restricting freedom of information and that they have no tools to stop it. However, Congressional officials spoke with Ndongo to reprimand his behavior. In a message to X, the far-right agitator defended himself by stating that it was Sumar's "hyenas," referring to the two technicians accompanying Martínez Barbero, who "almost killed him."

The reform of the regulations

One of the journalists' demands with the protest is for the acceleration of the reform of the Congressional regulations that will allow for the sanctioning and expulsion of those involved in these types of incidents. Sources from the Presidency of the lower house explain that its consideration will be debated in next Tuesday's plenary session. The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) had already decided to include it in the quota of initiatives they have the right to submit to the plenary session, but the incident with Ndongo has dispelled any doubts that might have existed about whether the start of the process could be delayed by a few weeks, they specify. This is a reform promoted by the PSOE, Sumar (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), ERC (Electrical and Political Parties), Junts (Junts), EH Bildu (Spanish Nationalist Party), PNV (Basque Nationalist Party), Podemos (Basque Nationalist Party), and Coalición Canaria (Canary Islands Coalition), without the support of the PP (People's Party) or Vox (Vox). The same sources indicate that Tuesday's incident would be considered a very serious infraction that could lead to the suspension of credentials for between three months and five years.

The role of Vox

To get to this point, it took numerous statements from the Association of Parliamentary Journalists (APP) and even a protest by media professionals outside the lower house. This problem arose from Vox's entry into the institution, and the far-right party encourages and supports these agitators. In response to questions from Eda TV in an empty press room, Vox's parliamentary spokesperson, Pepa Millán, called the journalists who participated in the protest, which was cross-party, with media outlets with very different editorial lines, "sectarians in the pay of the government." Millán has established herself as a defender of freedom of expression, even as Vox vetoes progressive media outlets such as Public.