THE INFORMATION ACCORDING TO VALENTÍ SÉSAR
From the Kassumay Foundation we want to share this brief writing offered to us by Valentí Sésar and which we believe very accurately summarizes the moment we are living in relation to information and the entanglement that surrounds it.
The right to information is a fundamental right of the citizen, which is why it is contemplated (and in theory protected) in all the constitutions of countries considered democratic.
And the origin and fundamental pillar of this right has been largely due to the written press. Traditionally and since the 18th century when the first headlines of what we understand today as the press were born, they have become a daily habit for a significant part of the citizenry, who in this way saw their need to be informed satisfied.
But as true as this is that today, the written press has lost the social influence it had always enjoyed, with the emergence of other more modern, closer and more convenient means of information. I am talking about radio, TV channels (both public and private), social networks, etc.). The sources of information have multiplied, but I think that in the same way that the ways of bringing it to us have changed, the substance, the essence of the information, should have remained unchanged. That is, truthful, duly contrasted, disinterested and impartial information. This is what we citizens demand.
But reality goes another way and I see with sadness that if there is a service that has lost the trust and prestige of the people, it has been that of the media, which unfortunately have become public speakers for large lobbies and political-financial corporations and which, under their direction, are dedicated to filtering, emphasizing, choosing, magnifying, manipulating and distorting or directly silencing according to the economic interests of those who support them.
That phrase came to my mind:“Before you believe everything the press says, find out who pays for the ink” or that other one by the Polish poet and journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, who told us: “When it was discovered that information was also a business, the truth stopped being important”.
The right to information is a fundamental right of the citizen, which is why it is contemplated (and in theory protected) in all the constitutions of countries considered democratic.
And the origin and fundamental pillar of this right has been largely due to the written press. Traditionally and since the 18th century when the first headlines of what we understand today as the press were born, they have become a daily habit for a significant part of the citizenry, who in this way saw their need to be informed satisfied.
But as true as this is that today, the written press has lost the social influence it had always enjoyed, with the emergence of other more modern, closer and more convenient means of information. I am talking about radio, TV channels (both public and private), social networks, etc.). The sources of information have multiplied, but I think that in the same way that the ways of bringing it to us have changed, the substance, the essence of the information, should have remained unchanged. That is, truthful, duly contrasted, disinterested and impartial information. This is what we citizens demand.
But reality goes another way and I see with sadness that if there is a service that has lost the trust and prestige of the people, it has been that of the media, which unfortunately have become public speakers for large lobbies and political-financial corporations and which, under their direction, are dedicated to filtering, emphasizing, choosing, magnifying, manipulating and distorting or directly silencing according to the economic interests of those who support them.
That phrase came to my mind:“Before you believe everything the press says, find out who pays for the ink” or that other one by the Polish poet and journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, who told us: “When it was discovered that information was also a business, the truth stopped being important”.
