The democratic abnormality of a president of government who is running away from the media

The media is generally considered the "fourth power" due to its role in democratic countries.

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This role consists of oversight of the work of the three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial, shedding light on their actions so that they are accessible to citizens and denouncing any possible abuses. In a democratic country, the branches of government have an obligation to be transparent to citizens in general and the media in particular, since those of us who pay taxes and elect our representatives have the right to know how our money is invested and what is done with the trust we place in politicians.

In most democratic countries, it is normal for political leaders to answer all kinds of questions from the media, whether at press conferences organized for this purpose or during their appearances at various events. The democratic quality of a country is measured by the ability of journalists to ask questions, especially the most uncomfortable ones, of those who hold political power. This power, in democracies, should not be unlimited and imposes on them the obligation to answer for their actions.

Regrettably, Spain's democratic quality is deteriorating at a forced pace under the government of Socialist Pedro Sánchez, not only because of the executive branch's attacks on the separation of powers and - in particular - on the judiciary, its attacks on the Constitution and its corruption scandals, but also because of its opacity and its silencing of the media.

Yesterday, the digital newspaper El Español reported that Sánchez has now gone 40 days (today it's 41) without holding a press conference and has gone eleven months without granting an interview to a Spanish media outlet. Specifically, Sánchez has not answered questions from journalists since April 29, the day after the major blackout that affected mainland Spain, a blackout whose causes the government has yet to explain.

During this time, in addition to the blackout, the government has been accumulating scandals of corruption and mafia-like power management, as we have recently seen with the case of a PSOE "plumber". Thus, the reasons for the Prime Minister to give explanations to journalists are piling up, but instead, Sánchez is fleeing from the media and preventing them from carrying out the mission they have in a democracy. With this, the socialist leader only increases the suspicions of millions of Spaniards about his personal involvement in the aforementioned scandals and his responsibility for the blackout on April 28. If this were not the case, what would he have to hide?

The most surreal thing is that few media outlets complain about this and, furthermore, there are journalists in Spain who, instead of reproaching the government for its opacity, instead of fulfilling their duty to ask about matters as serious as those mentioned, dedicate themselves to criticizing other journalists who ask uncomfortable questions, calling them "far-right" "activists" and similar things. This is the consequence of the growing dependence of many media outlets on political favors from the government, particularly institutional advertising and different types of subsidies, but it is also the effect of a perverse sectarianism that causes some media outlets to put their ideology above the defense of democracy.

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Photo: PSOE.