The Journalists' Union asks for the resignation of Codony for pressuring the IB3 newsroom

PalmaThe Journalists' Union of the Balearic Islands (SPIB) has accused the director general of IB3, Josep Codony, of exerting "pressure" on the public entity's newsroom and "intimidating" its professionals with the statements he made this Thursday during the Balearic Islands Radio and Television Control Commission of the Parliament. The union refers to Codony's intervention, in which the director general acknowledged that he had "changed" a news story prepared by a reporter due to what he considered a "partisan" treatment of the information regarding the human chain held at Es Trenc.

For the SPIB, these statements "are not free" and, beyond "covering up the mismanagement" and "manipulation" that, according to the union, the management team carried out regarding the information, they amount to "publicly pointing out" the journalist who had initially produced the piece. The organization considers that this action violates professional independence and sends a "message of threat" to the entire newsroom, because, it argues, any journalist who produces information that "does not please the management can be exposed, discredited and questioned publicly".

The union demands the resignation of Codony

The SPIB maintains that the director general's statements contribute to creating “a climate of pressure and fear of possible reprisals” within the newsroom of a public media outlet and may compromise both the independence of the professionals and the right of the citizenry to receive “plural and rigorous” information. The union argues that the fact that a management team does not share the treatment of an informative piece does not allow it to “manipulate the content” or replace it with a version it considers “biased”. According to the SPIB, any modification of information must be based on “journalistic, transparent, and verifiable criteria”.

Faced with this situation, the organization has expressed its support for the affected journalist and has assured that it is at her disposal to study possible legal and professional actions in the face of statements that, in its opinion, “may affect her honor and her professional reputation”. The SPIB has demanded the resignation of Codony and has asked the management of IB3 to guarantee the autonomy of the professionals and respect for journalistic criteria. It has also urged the Parliament and the control bodies of the public entity to “assess the gravity” of the director general's statements.

Staff rally against the “lack of respect”

The reactions have not been limited to the union. IB3 workers gathered this Friday to denounce what they consider a “lack of respect” from Codony towards the work of the organization's journalists and towards the works council.

The staff described the director general's appearance at Parliament as “shameful,” especially for having defended that the News management had to modify the news report about the human chain at es Trenc. According to the works council, the changes introduced in the report served to “cover up” the appearance of the mayor of Campos, Francisca Porquer, in the middle of the mobilization and to remove statements from bathers that, according to the workers' representatives, cast doubt on the official version regarding the graffiti that appeared on the beach bunkers.

The committee also criticized the questioning of the professional who prepared the report due to the fact that she had previously worked in the communication department of a political party. “IB3 journalists are professionals and work with rigor and criteria, wherever they come from and wherever they have worked,” defended the staff representation, which considers this lack of respect “intolerable” because, in their view, it ends up constituting an attack on all the organization's workers.

During his parliamentary appearance, Codony also allegedly questioned the work of the works council in the IB3 integration process. The workers' representatives described as “irresponsible” the director general's insinuation that the committee “does not work enough” in this process and have invited him to participate in the negotiations.

The goal, according to the staff, is for Codony to be able to know directly the work that is being done in this area and the development of the negotiations. The conflict thus adds to the debate over the editing criteria for IB3's news content and over the guarantees of professional independence for the public entity's journalists.