It doesn't always happen. I mean that as a journalist you call and they pick up the phone or reply to a message. The team surrounding the Minister of Foreign Affairs —I don't know if because of diplomacy— does it with a naturalness that is appreciated. So much so that this week they made a space for me to be able to interview him.
Perhaps they still don't know where I'm going.
To work on a program like En Jake, on a regional channel like EITB, or to write in a recently created newspaper like this one you are reading, ElConstitucional.es, has its limitations. You don't have the weight of the big media, nor the backing of a big brand. They don't always know you —nor recognize you— enough as a journalist. And, of course, your message reaches fewer people.
Possibly all that is true. I know.
But those of us who are lucky enough to occupy a plot —however small it may be— in this profession, must also claim something. Or, rather, claim someone: those who from the local, from small newsrooms or from projects that start with more vocation than resources, do every day a dignified journalism and, too many times, little recognized.
A while ago I came to a conclusion: good journalism does not depend on the size of the newsroom. It is also done —and many times better— in modest trenches.
That's why having with ministers like José Manuel Albares, willing to also attend to small media outlets, is something more than a simple interview. It is, in a way, a recognition.
From here I applaud their treatment, their time and their honesty when they told me: “we must talk with everyone”.’
Because democracy is not sustained only in the big spotlights nor in the big headlines. It also lives in those questions that are asked from small newsrooms, from local programs or from media outlets that are still growing.
And perhaps for that reason it should be remembered more often: journalism is not measured by the size of the microphone, but by the willingness to listen to the question.