After the death of Antonio Franco on September 25, 2021, “colleagues and friends wondered: How will the legacy he has left to our journalism be known? It was at that moment when the seed of this book that you have in your hands was laid,” revealed this Tuesday the dean of the College of Journalists of Catalonia, Joan Maria Morros, during the presentation of the book Antonio Franco. A giant of journalism, a compilation of articles, interviews and chronicles by the man who was director and founder of El Periódico de Catalunya.
Morros described the book as “especially necessary” to delve into the life and professional career “of one of the greatest journalists in this country, in every sense.” A review of his career, such as his beginnings in J magazine, his time in El Papus magazine. “And check his journalistic evolution, from the different pseudonyms he used to the editorials he signed, or his indisputable commitment to the profession of journalist,” he highlighted before adding that Franco was an active member of the Democratic Group of Journalists of Barcelona and editor of the code deontology of the Col·legi de Periodistes.
During the event, Professor Xavier Vidal-Folch, Rosa Mora, Albert Sáez, and Rosa Massagué were in charge of remembering several anecdotes, as well as the legacy of a key journalist in the way of practicing the profession during the transition and democracy . Mora, who studied with Franco, recalled that “he has always been the leader of all of us,” while Vidal-Folch defined him as “the older brother that we all follow,” with an obsession “for making clear articles that are understood.” .
For his part, Sáez, current director of El Periódico, recognized that the spirit of his predecessor is still in the editorial office “without a doubt” and that his legacy to preserve was concentrated in three points: “The need for journalism to constantly reinvent itself, the rigor and non-neutrality based on the defense of certain values.” Finally, Massagué highlighted his virtue of recognizing mistakes: “When the
At the entrance to the event, which due to the large number of registrations had to be moved from the headquarters of the Col·legi de Periodistes to the Espai Francesca Bonnemaison, a copy of the book, which appears on the cover, was given free of charge to the more than 200 people attending. a photograph by Carlos Pérez de Rozas. The image, with a young Franco who was not yet dedicated to journalism, was on the cover of La Vanguardia in 1966, on the day of the fight against cancer.
