The
XXII edition of the EL MUNDO Master's Degree in Journalism
was inaugurated today with an inaugural class by the EL MUNDO journalist and director of
Onda Cero 's
La Brújula ,
Rafa Latorre
, and the two journalists who this Wednesday will receive the
XX International Journalism Awards of EL MUNDO
,
Alexei Kovalev
, chief of investigation for the independent Russian daily
Meduza
, and
Luz Escobar
, a journalist for the independent Cuban daily
14ymedio
.
Both have explained to the new students of the
EL MUNDO Master's in Journalism
the importance of journalistic work, especially in the situation that the two journalists are currently experiencing:
Alexei Kovalev
reporting on the
war in Ukraine
and
Luz Escobar
from the Cuban dictatorship.
In fact,
Alexei Kovalev
is in exile in Riga, Latvia, facing persecution from the Kremlin, while
Luz Escobar
spends weeks under house arrest for her work.
"Arguments and debate is what bothers governments and where we can sneak in to end the dictatorship," said
Luz Escobar
.
Previously, the students of the
EL MUNDO Master's in Journalism
have been received by the journalist
Justino Sinova
, honorary director of the Master's;
María Alcalá Santbellá
, from the CEU San Pablo University;
Rafael Moyano
, academic director of the Master;
and
Rafa Latorre
, who has been in charge of the inaugural class.
In it
Latorre
has sent a clear message to the students warning that "you don't have to be good people to practice journalism".
"There is no greater stone attached to a journalist than trying to appear to be a good person," she added.
Rafa Latorre inaugurates the Master's Degree in Journalism at EL MUNDO.JAVI MARTÍNEZ
Latorre
has insisted to the students that if they are going to practice journalism they have to know that "it is the reader who pays and they cannot be treated as if they were children".
And so, he has given as an example, the photograph that EL MUNDO published in the worst of the
Covid pandemic
in which dozens of coffins were shown on an ice rink.
Latorre explained that the director at the time, Francisco Rosell, and
Rafael Moyano
himself did not doubt that it had to be published.
He has remembered how much EL MUNDO was criticized then, but has also pointed out that now nobody doubts that it had to be published because "it showed reality".
"You don't have to protect the reader from anything. The best way to demonstrate that dedication to service is not to treat him like a child (...)
You don't work in a nursery
", the journalist pointed out.
Once the
EL MUNDO Master's Degree in Journalism
has been inaugurated , the director of the newspaper,
Joaquín Manso
, has been in charge of giving way to the next part of the act in which
Alexei Kovalev
and
Luz Escobar
have offered a master class to the students.
After pointing out the three EL MUNDO journalists who are remembered at the
International Journalism Awards
-
Julio Anguita Parrado
and
Julio Fuentes
, who died in Iraq and Afghanistan,
José Luis López Lacalle
, a columnist for this newspaper assassinated by the terrorist group ETA-,
Joaquín Manso
has pointed out to the students of the
EL MUNDO Master
the importance of the presence of
Kovalev
and
Escobar
: "Perhaps Luz and Alexei can explain to you what is the emotion that moves such different people to
give up their own well-being
to convey truthful information ".
The students of the Master of Journalism of EL MUNDO, with Rafa Latorre.JAVI MARTÍNEZ
Luz Escobar
began by pointing out that for many years the Cuban government maintained a monopoly on the Cuban media, but "that changed with access to the Internet."
"The independent press has enriched and
has brought the voice of Cubans to the fore
," she stated.
Luz Escobar
is a journalist for the independent newspaper
14ymedio
and, as she has explained, she suffers from censorship by the Cuban government, making it impossible to access the medium.
however, through PDFs sent to subscribers they manage to get the information across.
"I am paying a price for expressing myself freely
," she explained about the harassment she receives from the Cuban government.
Thus,
Escobar
has told what an ordinary day in his life is like.
Like a Cuban police officer, he stands in the doorway of her house and when she tries to leave he forbids her.
Sometimes it's hours, other times days and other times weeks.
"This is very intimidating because it not only has to do with me but also with my daughters and neighbors," she said.
However,
Luz Escobar
has sent a message of hope to the students stating that "that person is there because I express myself freely".
For his part,
Alexei Kovalev
, head of research for the independent Russian media
Meduza
, has captured the reality that Russia is experiencing right now - "and for years" -, but especially now since the
war broke out in Ukraine
.
Kovalev
has pointed out that "the people who have access to
Vladimir Putin
are more pro-Russian than
Putin
himself " and that "there are practically no opponents of the
Kremlin
", especially in a country where everything is "constant propaganda".
The journalist has not hesitated to show the reality that journalists who report the reality about Russia have to live with: "Since we left
Russia
to tell the stories, the Russian Parliament adopted two laws to control the information and I guarantee that we are persecuted by our stories, that if they do not conform to what the Kremlin says, they are considered
fake news
, and we will be punished for it by 10 years in prison".
"The corruption of the
Kremlin
and
Putin
is constant and it has to be reported and investigated," he assured, explaining the importance of independent journalism.
"It is very difficult to explain what is really happening (...) People have to listen to someone who interprets the facts for them.
That is the importance of independent media
," he concluded.
Kovalev
has also explained that Meduze has experienced "a huge rise in the number of readers" of his website, "of hundreds of thousands of page views, because we no longer say what officially has to be said to the majority of the male population of Russia , who are our main readers".
"Until September 2021, when
Putin
announced the recruitment of 300,000 men to fight in
Ukraine
, everything that had happened beforehand had little effect on the population. But then the war became a concern for society because some 300,000 families were directly affected. It was a desperate measure and if it hadn't been for that, the interest of society would not have been so high," he added.
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