The journalist Javier Aroca has starred in one of the most forceful moments of the program Malas Lenguas when reflecting on the growing citizen distrust in justice. During the debate, he defended that the reaction of incredulity or even laughter at the idea of trusting the judicial system responds precisely to a widespread social perception: “there is a lot of distrust in justice”, he underlined, pointing to the reiteration of cases in which those involved “get off scot-free”.
In his speech, Aroca went further by analyzing the causes of this situation, pointing to both political figures involved in corruption cases and the role that certain media outlets have played. As he explained, the coverage of scandals such as the Operation Kitchen or the Gürtel Case has at times been conditioned by interests that have contributed to softening or minimizing their impact on public opinion.
Aroca thus defended a demanding vision of journalism, asserting the responsibility to inform with rigor and without ideological conditioning. In this sense, he assured that a “democratic journalist” cannot act according to the editorial line of their medium when it comes to corruption, insisting that the informational treatment must be commensurate with the seriousness of the facts. His words connected with the sentiment of part of the debate, where the feeling of impunity and the erosion of trust in democratic institutions were also denounced.