El cor de la democràcia

Abstract

The analysis of the liberal democratic theory of freedom of the press gives rise to a responsibility which is enshrined in the legal system of the Spanish State but which, in the present circumstances, the press cannot fit/fill. Liberal theory. thus, has proven to be insufficient to explain the real function of the press in advanced societies and Western democracies. While this theory describes a press which must always defend the public interest, the commercial nature of the agents charged with carrying out this mission creates a situation in which private interests prevail. From this historical dysfunction is illegitimately born private censorship, which threatens a fundamental right, guaranteed by the State, that ottreedom of the press. Faced with this situation, the area of deontology is clearly insufficient to try to resolve the serious ethical conflicts faced by the press. If the press is not independent, it is the democratic system itself which is in crisis.