Freedom is the freedom to decide what you want to write, how you want to write it and to have the economic possibility to do so.

Spain has dropped four points in the ranking of the World Press Freedom Index in 2023. One of the main reasons given is the precariousness of employment that affects the people who work there.

Precariousness means that work does not cover reproductive needs. It does not allow for the free development of journalistic work. It acts as a filter for stories and discourses that are uncomfortable for power and money. It is a tool of censorship and a strategy for maintaining the discursive status quo. Therefore, if journalists have to fight to get out financially, it directly threatens their freedom.

“Journalists are the eyes and ears of society. Through their work, they satisfy the need for democratic freedoms, a need that must never be underestimated. They must be able to speak and write on matters of general interest without fear of interference (...)”. Ma Thida, chair of the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN, spoke of the case of Jimmy Lai. Her words also resonate with the precarious practice of press professionals.

In Informative monoculture we will talk about how precariousness threatens press freedom. Because informative monoculture happens when precariousness enters through the door.

Links of interest: 

http://www.pencatala.cat/
http://carlarovira.cat/

By Carla Rovira Pitarch

Activity promoted by PEN Català

Carla Rovira Pitarch
She graduated in Acting from the Institut del Teatre and specialises in voice and public speaking. She has developed her career as a stage creator in different shows of her own. Some of them are: Most of all, you've got to hide it from the chicks, winner of the Aplauso a la Creación Emergente 2016 of the FAD Sebastià Gasch Award, While the Machine keeps on running, a show with teenagers from Ansan, MÀTRIA, winner of the L'Apuntador 2017 Award from Núvol Magazine, Calla, Hamlet, calla, l'Amansi(pa)ment de les Fúries, Posaré el meu Cor en una Safata or ÈXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP.

Thursdays of voice and word 2024 builds on the proposals of creators creators regularly invited by: 
Blanca Llum Vidal
Eduard Olesti
Sònia Moya
Esteve Plantada
Grup Jordi Hurtado
Àrea de Lletres de la Bonne
PEN Català
Sodepau
Grup Obert d'Art Polític (GOAP)