The Council of Information of Catalonia has issued a ruling to which ARA has had access according to which El matí de Catalunya Ràdio, presented by Ricard Ustrell, contravened three points of the professional deontological code. In this way, it upholds the photoreporter Jordi Borràs, who had gone to this arbitration body promoted by the College of Journalists of Catalonia to protest the treatment that the magazine had given to the veto applied to photographers by Rosalía at her concerts.Specifically, Borràs denounced that the presenter of the program, during the discussion, had made statements “false, biased, unverified, and that directly attack the dignity of the profession”, in the sense that it was implied that if entities in the sector complained, it was actually because they wanted to obtain free tickets.Another point of friction was the solution suggested by the program, which consisted of paying for the ticket, attending as an audience member, and taking photographs as spectators. “It is not true that we can bring a professional photo team and work from the stands as Ricard Ustrell repeatedly stated without even bothering to verify this claim or giving a voice to one of the hundreds of professionals who dedicate themselves to this craft,” wrote Borràs in his complaint.And there was still a third claim, due to the impossibility of exercising the right of rectification, despite having tried to do so by contacting the broadcaster, which contravenes criterion 3 of the code of ethics.The broadcaster's allegations

Catalunya Ràdio, for its part, argued that the fragments in question took place during the discussion panel called L’àgora, and that the station formally distinguishes clearly between information and opinion spaces. According to the allegations received, "the audience could clearly identify the change between the news segment and the start of the discussion panel".The Council of Information, however, considers that this distinction is not sufficient and that even if it is a space for opinion, this “does not exempt journalists from preserving a minimum of rigor in those statements that are susceptible to objective verification” and recalls that criterion 1 of the deontological code details that “the opinions expressed by journalists cannot contain false data or be based on them”. Furthermore, it details that at the time of the events “there was a public and formal position of the main representative organizations of the sector”, who consider these restrictions a hindrance to the right to information.The CIC determines that, furthermore, criterion 2 of the code was violated, according to which “injurious expressions should not be used nor imprecise or unsubstantiated data disseminated that could harm people's dignity and cause damage or discredit”, and which specifies that “the journalist must previously contact those affected to give them the opportunity to respond”. The committee opines that Catalunya Ràdio did not use “injurious expressions in the strict sense” but that “the reiteration of a narrative that essentially presented the conflict as a claim to obtain free access to shows could project a simplified and potentially disqualifying image of the demands of the affected professionals, especially in the absence of their version of events”, and, therefore, also considers this second criterion to have been violated.Likewise, it considers that the third criterion, relating to the right of reply, was also not met. Although Borràs called the program at the time to be able to intervene, he could not. The broadcaster did contact him, but from the midday news to collect some statements and, therefore, "did not provide a sufficient response to the request for verification and correction made by the claimant".

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