Protecting the independence of journalists in public media: the case of Spain’s regional public broadcasters

Abstract

The lack of confidence with which a large segment of the public views the neutrality of regional public broadcasters makes it necessary to deploy internal measures of professional control aimed at promoting objectivity, balance and veracity of news content. Achieving these objectives requires professional bodies that defend the independence of journalists from pressures from within their own organization as well as from external political and economic powers. Editorial charters are well suited to furthering these objectives, because they recognize the rights and obligations of journalists and the news media companies they work for. By signing these charters, both parties pledge to uphold these rights and obligations. These charters call for the creation of newsroom councils, which can be effective at monitoring compliance. The present study examines newsroom councils at three Spanish regional public broadcasters that have adopted editorial charters (TV3, EITB and Canal Sur). Detailed interviews were conducted with members of those councils, leading to some proposals for reinforcing their role of supporting journalists’ autonomy and news quality.