For yet another year, the Society of Journalists of Catalonia, the Catalan Information Council (CIC) and the Catalan universities offering degrees in journalism and communication organised the 5th Journalistic Ethics Conference, which featured talks, research and case studies on the current ethical challenges facing journalism.

The vice-dean of the Faculty of Communication Sciences, Núria Roca-Trenchs, revisited the slogan “More necessary than ever” from the Society’s most recent congress on the importance of journalists’ role in society, at a time “when we do not have much support: only 33% of citizens trust traditional media,” explained the lecturer. In light of this “wake-up call for the profession”, she stressed the need for journalism that is both committed and plural.

The researcher also highlighted the “precarious” employment situation facing many journalists: “We cannot demand rigour while maintaining precarious and unstable newsrooms; that makes us vulnerable. To talk about decent working conditions is also to talk about ethics,” she remarked

The event held by the Society of Journalists brought together researchers from most Catalan universities in a diverse programme structured into four blocks: Ethics and Artificial Intelligence; Case Presentations; Ethics and the Media in Catalonia; and Ethics, Journalism and Bias.

Núria Roca-Trenchs and Maria Fitó-Carreras, both members of the teaching staff at UIC Barcelona, presented a study they have been working on regarding the ethical coverage in Spanish newspapers of the Guardia Urbana and Nemo case. “We analysed 140 news items that covered the events of the Guardia Urbana case during the summer of 2024, following the release of Burning Body and Rosa Peral’s Tapes, as well as Operación Nemo,” Núria Roca explained during the presentation.

While, broadly speaking, the print media analysed did comply with the ethical code, this is not always the case, particularly regarding violations of minors’ rights and the privacy of families. “While we are yet to publish the study, we have observed tensions between journalistic rigour and sensationalism in the reporting of information. It is the social responsibility of journalists to combat sensationalist practices, as otherwise we lose credibility,” noted the lecturer.

Other presentations included a publication by journalist Pilar Suárez-López and Roger Cuartielles (UPF), who proposed creating a personalised synthetic voice for signing deaf individuals with the help of AI; and another by Santiago Tejedor, Cristina Pulido, Stephanie Vick and Nataly Guerrero (UAB), which looks to raise awareness of the reality in Haiti, “a failed state”, according to the research, “about which very little is reported in the media,” they continued.

Also present at the event were Maria José Recoder, coordinator of the Society of Journalists’ Working Group on Universities and Media Education, and Josep Carles Rius, president of the CIC.