When the truth is a risk

Orson Wells proclaimed in Citizen Kane that upon entering the Chronicle 's editorial office he felt like a child in a candy store, and it is possible that in my case I had experienced a similar emotion in front of the window of La Vanguardia , when in my adolescence I would see out of the corner of my eye the journalists entering through the revolving door, while I gazed in ecstasy at the photographs of the week displayed on Pelayo Street.

These weren't the best of times for journalism, but things were still going well for newspapers, which were beginning to find loopholes to report on what was happening despite the iron grip of Franco's regime. I write this as the profession celebrates World Press Freedom Day, which coincides with a very difficult time not only for practicing journalism but also for defending the truth. In 2024, 124 journalists were murdered (70% in the Gaza Strip) and 361 were imprisoned. The countries with the most imprisoned journalists are China (50), Israel (43), Burma (35), Belarus (31), and Russia (30). The main reasons for these arrests are their political opinions.

In 2024, 124 journalists were murdered and another 361 were imprisoned.

Hegel said that the morning paper was the prayer of contemporary man. What was valid in the 19th century is still valid today, even though the media have diversified. But journalism is seriously threatened, not only by states, but also by precariousness. Two hundred years after a US president like Thomas Jefferson said he would rather have a press without a government than a government without a press, Donald Trump has appeared, scorning the free press, putting obstacles in its way, and filling the universe with lies.

Read also Rude politics Marius Carol

Democracy and journalism share a shared desire to discover the truth and make the world a better place. Journalism is not only a technique of communication; it is also an ethic and an aesthetic for conveying values ​​based on respect, tolerance, and rigor. Eugenio Scalfari, founder of La Repubblica , defined a journalist as someone who tells people what's happening to them. But it is also the art of telling the truth, the most authentic of the fine arts.