“If we don’t value the journalist, the person who tells the stories, there will be no worthwhile stories”

Journalism is a means of understanding and explaining what is happening in the world. What do you like most about day to day life?

I like discovering stories. I’m lucky that my day to day life involves connecting with people who have extremely interesting perspectives, stories and analyses, which provide highly enriching information. I also like seeing the path that stories travel and creating stories from scratch, explaining things that haven’t been explained.

The life of a journalist can be hectic. What is the hardest thing?

The pace of journalism today has become frantic. The amount of inputs to which journalists and society are subject is astounding. For me, the hardest thing is to dampen the noise and decide yes or no. It’s like a hamster wheel at times. We run and run, and, as a media outlet, it feels like you have to cover everything. But you don’t actually have to cover everything. What you need to do is put into practice your editorial and information strategy, and always think of the reader, of the information they need.

Hundreds of companies, institutions and financial agents raise their hand each day to sell us information. And that’s good, because it means that our business and production fabric is very active, but as a media outlet, you can’t cover everything. In fact, covering everything would be a form of misinformation. Deciding yes or no, which information is relevant and how to cover it something we do every day.

You began working with VIA Empresa as a freelancer in May 2021. Afterwards, you became an in-house journalist and editor in chief, and then in December 2022, you were named director. How did you feel?

On the one hand, I felt extremely fortunate and grateful, while, on the other, I was a bit overwhelmed by the responsibility. I was afraid of making mistakes; although perhaps it wasn’t fear as much as caution. I’m very excited and grateful, because the newspaper runs incredibly smoothly, and has an extremely talented team who this year are celebrating their 10th anniversary. I’ve always felt supported by the institution, the team and the business network.

How do you think you can get people interested in financial journalism?

It’s important to understand that, when you talk about business and finance, what you're really talking about is society. Finance is a reflection of society, of an activity society that does things, that produces. Behind the stories there are hopes and dreams, people who work hard and give their best. You get to see the bright side of a country, of a society that wakes up early to achieve an objective. To get people interested, we first need to admire and respect this economy. And I think, as journalists, we also need to bring the economy down to earth and make the figures more intelligible. When you write an article about a financial event, you have to write it both for people who know nothing about the topic and people who know much more than you.

What challenges do you think journalism is facing?

One of major challenges of journalism revolves around immediacy. There is information that can be supplied quickly or in the moment. But there is other information that needs to be analysed slowly. Another challenge is not to fall victim to political, corporate or economic interests. The power of corporations to be everywhere complicates the daily task of journalists and requires them to go to great lengths not to succumb to this pressure, which is often presented with an amiable guise. Instability is another challenge: if we don’t value the journalist, the person who tells the stories, there will be no worthwhile stories.

Where is journalism moving towards?

In the digital realm, I suppose it’s moving towards subscription models. I’m frightened that the current trend of personalised product consumption will cause the content to become overly segmented or personalised, and that this serves to polarise readers even further. I also think we will start exploring new channels. Some news outlets are already on TikTok. And while the role will never fully disappear, journalism will explore new means of reaching all readers.

What would you say to someone who is considering studying Journalism or recently began their degree?

I’d tell them to read a lot and to stay curious. That is what will enrich you the most and ensure you never stop learning throughout your life.

You studied Journalism in the Faculty of Communication Sciences at UIC Barcelona. How would you describe your time at the University?

It was a really fun period, one of which I have many fond memories. We were the second generation of journalists. It was a time of self-experimentation; we felt important, and we felt that the eyes of UIC Barcelona were upon us. It was a period in which I developed tools that I still use today.

What tools do you still use in your job as a journalist and director of VIA Empresa?

I feel that while journalism is not a difficult degree programme, it is difficult to be a good journalist, because it involves looking at information from a different perspective, with curiosity, values, and at UIC Barcelona we spoke often about values. We had a lecturer, Nicolás Valle, who works as a correspondent for TV3, who used to say: “Try not to write like everyone else. The media outlets will try and homogenise your voices, your way of telling stories. Try and maintain your own way of viewing and explaining things; when someone reads an article, they should be able to tell who wrote it.” This was the approach to journalism I developed at UIC Barcelona: to be yourself as a journalist, not just one among many; to look at information with respect, admiration and values.