A QUARTER of a century ago, journalist Vicent Partal, critical of the media of the 1990s and convinced he could do better, led a small team to create one of the world’s first online newspapers.
Since then, VilaWeb has become one of the most successful, connected and authoritative publications in Catalonia – and yesterday it marked its 25th anniversary, with Partal musing about the next 25. He said “We celebrate them as the first 25 years of a history that we want to be very long and better every day.
“We want to make one of the best newspapers in the world, in Catalan. We want to make VilaWeb to be a much stronger newspaper because we want to grow in freedom … over any border and dialogue.”
Partal admitted that when VilaWeb was conceived the internet was “another world … another society … another culture” and that, looking back, they could not be more proud of what they had achieved.
“VilaWeb has paved the way for many things, not just a new and better model of journalism,” he said.
“VilaWeb has contributed to changing the country and for us it has been an honour to participate ... in the fight for a better informed society, for a more participatory democracy and for Catalan countries more aware of their national reality and of the importance of language.”
The business model they used then and still use today was open access to as many people as possible in the belief that a free newspaper could only function if a significant part of their readership understood that it had to be paid for.
That model has worked so far and VilaWeb now has more than 19,000 subscribers, although like any newspaper it always needs more.
Since the coronavirus pandemic was first declared, the team has introduced a “Coronavirus Daily Report and “Confined Conversations” videos to help them relate “thread by thread one of the most difficult crises we have ever experienced”.
“A study by Ramon Llull University has highlighted ... precisely the very high credibility of VilaWeb during the pandemic,” Partal wrote in an online editorial.
He said VilaWeb had closed its newsroom and had staff teleworking, but they could see how vital its news was. When they started, he said the Catalan government, which then used the Spanish language, was not convinced it could be successful using the Catalan tongue. However, the team were now certain they could “make a newspaper in Catalan as good as the best newspapers in the world”.
Partal added: “We have more information than ever in our hands but knowledge is also more threatened than ever. The further it goes, the harder it is to navigate the sea of communication, full to overflowing with unspeakable interests and extraordinarily elaborate machinations.
“There is a large core of citizens which wants … committed newspapers that make them think and understand the world better … after 25 years proving that VilaWeb can always be counted on, this is our commitment and the challenge we take on: to make for the Catalan countries one of the best newspapers in the world, now.”
Catalan president Quim Torra, a writer, publisher and regular contributor to VilaWeb, tweeted:
“In the last 25 years we have all changed a lot and a lot has happened but @VilaWeb has always been there to explain it. For many more years!”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel