Vox, on the veto to EL PAÍS: "You are not journalists"

The general secretary of Vox, Javier Ortega Smith, in 'La hora de la 1', on TVE, this Thursday.

Vox has once again prohibited EL PAÍS access to a public act of the party.

The ultra formation has denied accreditation to a journalist from this newspaper for the press conference held at noon by its leader, Santiago Abascal, in a hotel in Barcelona.

The response to the request has been that it is "a discretionary act of the party" to grant accreditation, without further explanation.

This Thursday, its secretary general, Javier Ortega Smith, justified the veto in the program

on TVE: "You are not journalists, you are propagandists," he said, addressing EL PAÍS journalist Carlos E. Cué , present on the set.

Javier Ortega Smith (@Ortega_Smith) to @carlosecue on freedom of the press: “You are not journalists, you are propagandists of lies.

They are at the service of the lobbies. ”# LaHoraOrtegaSmith pic.twitter.com/gDGcIDJTm3

- La Hora de La 1 (@LaHoraTVE) November 26, 2020

Both the Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain (FAPE) and the Madrid Press Association (APM) have repeatedly denounced Vox's veto of journalists from this newspaper and from other media as a flagrant violation of the right to access. information enshrined in article 20 of the Constitution.

On Tuesday, the FAPE stressed that "there is no justification for vetoing a" media outlet, and described Ortega Smith's statements as "a serious attack on press freedom."

Javier Ortega Smith to @carlosecue (El País): "El País will not enter our private headquarters. You are not the owners of the media. We are free to say that your lies and propaganda are told to others but they do not come to our acts to lie. "# LaHoraOrtegaSmith pic.twitter.com/X52Otx0zcZ

- La Hora de La 1 (@LaHoraTVE) November 26, 2020

Cué asked the Vox leader why he was vetoing journalists from their actions: “Because you are not journalists, because you are propagandists, political activists, propagandists of lies, you lie, you are at the service of

, of those who pay you, you have no interest ... Years ago, THE COUNTRY had some information, now you only make propaganda, a lie.

It doesn't matter if we say white, you publish black, you are always searching to try to confuse the reader, ”he replied, alluding to the alleged manipulation of statements by his parliamentary spokesmen, Macarena Olona and Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, about therapies for homosexuals, which were not published by EL PAÍS.

Ortega has justified the right of his party to veto journalists by appealing to press freedom: “Precisely because we believe in freedom of the press, in informational freedom, in informational veracity, in verified opinion, in objectivity, we cannot accept [a] media that have become propaganda pamphlets ”.

And he added that he only does so in "private spaces", underlining that EL PAÍS editors can access their press conferences and appearances in the Congress of Deputies.

Although Vox argues that these “private spaces”, such as hotel lounges or its own headquarters, are paid for by its affiliates, 60% of the ultra party's budget already comes from public subsidies: a total of 9,937,942 euros in 2019, according to your official accounts.

On the other hand, Vox cannot veto the presence of any journalist in the press room of the Congress of Deputies, since the competence belongs to its president.

“EL PAÍS will not enter our private headquarters, nor will any other means of communication that does not come to inform, that comes to lie and make political propaganda.

Let it be clear to you.

Their lie and their propaganda are told to others.

You do not believe in freedom of the press ”, he concluded.

During his speech, the secretary general of Vox has assured, untruthfully, that EL PAÍS has been convicted of lying in a lawsuit under the right to rectification.

The ruling, which was handed down on September 1 by the 49th Court of First Instance in Madrid, did not say that the news that reported that the Madrid president of the ultra party, Rocío Monasterio, practiced the profession of architect before counting on the corresponding title.

On the contrary, it made it clear that “it is not necessary to demonstrate that the information published is false, nor that the facts contained in the document written [by Rocío Monasterio] that are requested to be published are true, in exercise of the right of rectification .

What is necessary is that the rectification be exercised with respect to facts that the plaintiff considers inaccurate, not about opinions or value judgments ”.

Vox's veto of EL PAÍS and all the PRISA Group media dates back to November 6 of last year, when this newspaper published an editorial criticizing the "xenophobic and intolerant" arguments used by Abascal in the televised debate of the candidates for the Presidency of the Government and the PP and Citizens were urged not to form a majority with him.

Previously, Vox had already vetoed a journalist from this newspaper for publishing that his candidate for the European Parliament, Jorge Buxadé, was a candidate for the Falange in 1995 and 1996, a fact that is verified in the official gazettes.

Asked at the press conference he has given in Barcelona if his party will continue to veto EL PAÍS during the Catalan electoral campaign, Abascal replied: “We will continue to do so. It's not going to change absolutely anything ”. The president of Vox has insisted that his party does not veto any journalist in Congress, as it could not be otherwise, but has justified that in acts in private venues he does not allow "those who manipulate us" to enter. The only alleged manipulation that he has cited has been precisely the editorial that claimed a

in Spain there are in Germany and other European countries with the extreme right.