过去三年西班牙愈六千记者失业

今天是世界新闻自由日。西班牙联邦记者协会于日前发出警告称，自2008年经济危机爆发以来，西班牙已有超过6000名记者丢了工作。该协会主席表示，这是西班牙新闻工作者有史以来遭遇的最严峻的局势。他还指出，上一季度的统计数字依然惊人，而且前景黯淡。该协会称，此次经济危机爆发以来，西班牙有6234名记者失去工作，有57个媒体机构关停，另有23家媒体机构进行了裁员。目前，西班牙最畅销的两家日报也在计划大规模裁员和减薪；有些报纸受经济危机影响已经停止印刷，只发行电子版。专业人士指出，裁员和减薪会让新闻工作者承受更多压力，同时也会影响到新闻报道的质量。

More than 6,000 journalists have lost their jobs in Spain in the three years since the economic crisis broke out, the industry warned ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Thursday.

"It is the most severe situation journalism in Spain has gone through in all its history," said Elsa Gonzalez, president of the Spanish Federation of Journalists' Associations.

"The figures for the last quarter are alarming and the outlook is dark."

The association, which represents 21,000 members of the profession, says that 6,234 journalists have lost their jobs since the worst of the financial and economic crisis began in late 2008.

Fifty-seven media organisations have closed down and 23 have made lay-offs.

Now Spain's two biggest-selling daily newspaper, El Pais and El Mundo, are planning mass job cuts too, says Fernando Cano, editor of the specialist media news site prnoticias.com.

El Mundo plans to lay off a third of its journalists, cutting some 195 jobs, and El Pais is likely to make comparable cuts, he said.

The left-wing daily Publico, which champions victims of the economic crisis and criticises the ruling class, now has only an online presence since it scrapped its print edition in February with the loss of 160 jobs.

"It is a situation of unemployment and also of precariousness, because salaries have fallen in all the media," Gonzalez said.

Cano added: "They must do the same work with fewer people and those who remain have their salaries reduced. They are under more pressure and must work more while earning less."

It is harming the quality of news coverage, he argued.

"If a news organization is so weakened, it cannot fulfill its role of guaranteeing the citizens' right to free information," Gonzalez said.

"If it receives information that is well presented, it gets published or broadcast directly, without checking or digging to see what lies behind it."

As in the case of Publico, falling advertising revenue is the cause.

Cano says that advertising revenues have fallen by 22 percent in the press, 17 percent in television and 11 percent in radio.

Spain's economic crisis dates to the bursting of its construction bubble in 2008.

"In Spain, just like in construction, everything is oversized," Cano said.

"As well as having lots of general newspapers, it is unusual in having three locals in every province. It is just not viable," he added. "A restructuring of the sector is clearly needed. This cannot go on."

The federation has called for rallies in 40 towns across Spain on Thursday to mark World Press Freedom Day, to "demand better conditions for journalists and raise awareness that weakening journalism also weakens democracy."