Mallorca IB3 chief faces union call to quit

IB3 staff gathered outside the broadcaster’s sites on Friday as Mallorca’s journalists’ union called for director general Josep Codony to resign.

The Balearic Islands Journalists’ Union, known as SPIB, says Codony put pressure on the public broadcaster’s newsroom and sought to intimidate its journalists. The dispute centres on a report about the human chain at es Trenc.

Row over altered es Trenc report

Codony told the Balearic Parliament’s oversight committee on Thursday that he had changed a reporter’s story because he believed its treatment of the event was partisan.

SPIB says those remarks publicly singled out the journalist who wrote the original report. The union argues that a manager cannot alter a story simply because they disagree with its approach, and says any changes must rest on transparent, verifiable journalistic grounds.

It has offered support to the reporter and says it will consider legal and professional action. SPIB is also asking Parliament and IB3’s oversight bodies to assess the seriousness of Codony’s remarks.

Staff committee disputes changes

IB3’s staff committee says Codony defended the news director’s alteration of the report. It describes that change as manipulation.

According to the committee, the revised item softened coverage of Campos mayor Francisca Porquer’s contested appearance during the demonstration. It also removed comments from beachgoers who challenged the official account of graffiti found on the beach bunkers.

The committee also rejects criticism of the reporter over her previous work in a political party’s communications department. It disputed Codony’s suggestion that the committee was not doing enough in the integration process, inviting him to join the negotiations and see the work under way.

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Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com