By Carla Rovira Pitarch
Activity promoted by PEN Català
Freedom is the freedom to decide what you want to write, how you want to write it and to have the economic possibility to do so.
Spain has dropped four points in the ranking of the World Press Freedom Index in 2023. One of the main reasons given is the precariousness of employment that affects the people who work there.
Precariousness means that work does not cover reproductive needs. It does not allow for the free development of journalistic work. It acts as a filter for stories and discourses that are uncomfortable for power and money. It is a tool of censorship and a strategy for maintaining the discursive status quo. Therefore, if journalists have to fight to get out financially, it directly threatens their freedom.
“Journalists are the eyes and ears of society. Through their work, they satisfy the need for democratic freedoms, a need that must never be underestimated. They must be able to speak and write on matters of general interest without fear of interference (…)”. Ma Thida, chair of the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN, spoke of the case of Jimmy Lai. Her words also resonate with the precarious practice of press professionals.
In Informative monoculture we will talk about how precariousness threatens press freedom. Because informative monoculture happens when precariousness enters through the door.
