Victoria Madrid Martín
On Tuesday 12th March, a journalist from Eldiario.es received serious threats from the chief of staff of Ayuso, the president of the Community of Madrid. In these messages, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez threatened to close the newspaper. These events occurred after the same newspaper published several investigative articles uncovering the fraud committed by the current partner of the president.
File image of the chief of staff of the president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez
In response, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez said that these statements were made in a private conversation with a friend. Information that is not true, they simply had a journalist-source relationship. He also revealed the name of the journalist who received the threats, Esther Palomera, information that the newspaper itself initially did not want to reveal for ethical reasons.
Far from stopping there, yesterday Miguel Ángel Rodríguez sent a message to certain media claiming that "hooded journalists" from Eldiario.es had tried to break into the president's house. He also later claimed that journalists from El País had been harassing neighbours. This information has been denied by both media outlets, which are considering taking legal action for the dissemination of this hoax, which was intended to discredit them. This afternoon the Ayuso government said in a press conference that they deeply respect the media and ask them to "not cross the line".
The debate over the publication of this information lies in the fact that Ayuso's partner does not hold any public office. Even so, it is true that she is living in a flat that he bought after the commission for the sale of masks during the pandemic and with which, according to the latest information, her partner intentionally defrauded the tax authorities.
Within the legal framework, to what extent can this information be disseminated? Article 20 of our Constitution protects the right to inform and to receive truthful information. The limits of this fundamental right are to be found in the same fundamental rights that are stipulated in the Constitution. Thus, article 18 protects the right to privacy, honour, and self-image. Eldiario.es has exercised its right to inform freely since the information published is truthful and of general interest. On the other hand, it could be argued that this information is infringing on the privacy of a citizen since he does not hold any public charge for which he would have to answer, but the court's verdict open to interpretation.
On the other hand, Eldiario.es and El País, the two media publicly and falsely accused of trying to enter Ayuso's house, have indeed been attacked in their honour and their own image, due to Mr. Rodríguez's information. In addition, all those media that echoed the news without checking whether the information was true or not have also committed a crime because it is not true so they are also violating the Article 20 as well as the 18.
Comments