The aggressions and intimidations of the journalists of TVE and Antena 3 while covering the concentration in front of the Parliament on Wednesday, after the end of the ANC demonstration, have been unanimously condemned by the Col·legi de Periodistes de Catalunya, the Grup de Periodistes Ramon Barnils, the Col·lectiu Ciutadella and the Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC).
C.Informativos TVE
@CdItve
A group of hooded
In front of the Parliament, some 300 protesters at odds with the “performances” of the ANC had congregated to demand unity of action from the independence parties and the change of dynamics. The TVE reporter Ángela García broadcast one of the last calls of the day when some of the concentrates began to intimidate her, throwing a stone and water into the chamber, preventing her from doing her job.
Also a reporter of Antena 3 was intimidated by the hooded while broadcasting live eviction of the radical independence of the doors of the Parliament.
Without journalism there is no democracy
The CAC, the authority that regulates audiovisual communication in Catalonia, has denounced in a statement that these actions “limit the right to freedom of information that all citizens have.” The agency also calls for measures “to end the actions that hinder the professional work of journalists covering the demonstrations.”
For its part, the Col·legi de Periodistas de Catalunya has published a message on its Twitter account showing its solidarity with the assaulted professionals and demands “once again freedom and respect for the work of journalists”. The College of Journalists defends that “without journalism there is no democracy and that is why we will not get tired of saying ‘enough’ and condemning these aggressions”.
Also through Twitter the Ramon Barnils Group has shown its support for the assaulted TVE journalist, considering that “journalists have to be able to do our job freely.”
Political Parties Response
On the part of the politicians the response has not taken long to arrive. The leader of Ciutadans in Catalonia, Lorena Roldán, has accused the president of the Government, Quim Torra, through social networks of being the culprit of the attempted assault on the Parliament and of the assault on Mossos and journalists. The candidate for the presidency of the Generalitat has sent “support and encouragement to the professionals who were reporting today from the Parliament and who have been attacked and harassed by the separatist radicals. My total condemnation of these unacceptable behaviors.”
Roger Torrent, president of the Parliament, has also “strongly condemned” the aggression in an interview with Ràdio 4 and stressed that it is “a minority attitude” and that “freedom of expression is a fundamental basis of democracy.”
Angela García thanked the support received. “Reporting freely is a right that all journalists should have. We will continue working to offer plural information,” she wrote on Twitter.
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