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 general director of IB3, Josep Codony, of exerting "pressure" on the public broadcaster'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 general director 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 gratuitous" and, beyond "covering up the mismanagement" and the "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 prepared the piece. The organization considers that this action violates professional independence and sends a "message of threat" to the entire newsroom, because, as it argues, any journalist who prepares information that "does not please the management can be exposed, discredited, and publicly questioned."

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 can compromise both the independence of professionals and the citizens' right 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 regarding statements that, in its opinion, "may affect her honor and professional reputation". The SPIB has demanded Codony's resignation and has asked the IB3 management to guarantee the autonomy of professionals and respect for journalistic criteria. It has also urged Parliament and the oversight 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 employees 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 in 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 to the report served to “cover up” the appearance of the mayor of Campos, Francisca Porquer, in the middle of the mobilization and to eliminate statements from bathers who, according to the workers' representatives, called into question the official version regarding the graffiti that appeared on the beach bunkers.

The committee also criticized the questioning of the professional who produced the report for having previously worked in the communications 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 representatives, who consider this lack of respect “intolerable” because, in their view, it ends up constituting an attack on all the organization's employees.

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 being done in this area and the progress of the negotiations. The conflict thus adds to the debate over the editing criteria for IB3's news content and the guarantees of professional independence for the public broadcaster's journalists.