Twenty years of Catalonia in English

Beginnings in the basement

Producing the newspaper every weekday was a relatively small team of people from a variety of backgrounds, but mostly native English speakers with experience in journalism, working under Puigdemont’s management. In the early days, the Catalonia Today staff were based in the offices that El Punt – as the Catalan newspaper was called at the time, before it merged with the Avui newspaper in 2009 and that led to the creation of El Punt Avui – used to occupy in Barcelona’s Raval neighbourhood, on carrer Tàpies, near Drassanes. The CT team shared the basement with El Punt’s sports writers and the Vilaweb online publication, and this is where they would remain for the next few years.

As the weeks went by, the popularity of the newspaper remained strong, but the publication failed to attract the financial support it had hoped for, whether private or public. Catalonia Today’s Chief Editor, Miquel Berga, comments on the newspaper’s financial situation in an interview on pages 16-17 of this issue of the magazine. However, the upshot was that after half a year, there was no other choice than to make cuts. That is when Catalonia Today became a weekly publication (January, 2015). At that point, the free newspaper concept was reluctantly abandoned and Catalonia Today readers were asked to pay a euro for their weekly dose of Catalan news in English, although the publication began to appear in colour and the number of pages was expanded to 48, including thorough features and interviews and the new Review section, dedicated to culture.

During this time, various members of staff came and went, including the publication’s first Editor, former Times writer, Stephen Burgen, who for a while afterwards was a part-time contributor to Catalonia Today. Staff writer Neil Stokes then took over as Editor of the weekly newspaper for a short period before the baton was passed to El Punt Avui’s Germà Capdevila. Yet the biggest change in Catalonia Today’s management was Puigdemont’s decision to move into politics, leaving a void that was filled by El Punt Avui. The support of the Catalan media group proved invaluable for the survival of the publication, which today remains part of the El Punt Avui family of products.

These changes, some due to financial concerns and some due to management issues, not to mention the evolution of the media landscape such innovations as the ubiquitous rise of the internet, meant that in December 2008, Catalonia Today reached its definitive form as a monthly magazine. It still adhered to its founding principle of explaining Catalonia in English and it still appealed to both foreign residents and English-speaking Catalans alike, however in four years the publication had changed radically.

Yet Catalonia Today had survived and to this day remains one of just a few media outlets that deal with Catalan issues in English. In 2014, Marcela Topor, who had been on the staff from the beginning, took over as Editor of the magazine, which entered another phase of its existence from its new headquarters in El Punt Avui’s offices in Girona.

By that time, ownership of the El Punt Avui media group had changed hands and one consequence was that the group’s English-language operation got a real boost. For example, Catalonia Today was given pages in Presència magazine as well as in the back of El Punt Avui’s daily issue to provide a summary of the day’s news in English, thereby helping to fulfil the group’s commitment to reaching out to as many readers as possible, as well as introducing the magazine to many potential new readers.

Our own TV channel

It was at this time that El Punt Avui invested in a new television studio and launched its own channel, which also gave a new outlet for Catalonia Today’s English-language content. Despite having only ever provided written material, CT’s staff and contributors were able to pivot and rose to the new challenge of producing television programmes in English. There was the documentary series ’The Class’, Barney Griffiths’ weekly look at the world of football with a panel of pundits, Nicole Millar’s, Marcela’s and Neil’s respective series of in-depth interviews with well-known foreign and Catalan figures from all walks of life, writer Matthew Tree’s weekly exploration of politics with a panel of experts, and for a while Catalonia Today even experimented with regular news bulletins in English.

This period of expansion also saw the launch of the Catchat podcast, in which Marcela, Matthew, Barney and Neil would meet every week, sometimes with guests, to talk about all things Catalan and preview the next issue of the magazine.

Unfortunately, financial issues would again have the final say. In an environment of increasing digital dominance in which consumers began to expect content free of charge on the internet, El Punt Avui once again changed hands and along with many other traditional newspapers had to reorganise to survive. That meant cuts were inevitable and in scaling back its entire media operation, Catalonia Today too was forced to reduce its activities.

However, the publication, for so many years the heart of the Catalonia Today operation, remains. It has survived all the ups and downs and, with two decades of experience under its belt, is arguably better today than it has been at any point in the past two decades, although that is for the readers to decide.

Colleagues and friends

Whether Catalonia Today goes on to see 30 years only time will tell, but this is not the first time the publication has celebrated a key anniversary. In 2014, the magazine celebrated its 10th anniversary with a special edition of the magazine, much like this one. The photo taken in the Girona offices and published in that issue shows the staff and contributors of the time, some of whom still work for the magazine. Still Chief Editor, Miquel Berga has been involved with the project from its inception, as he explains in his interview, while Marcela, Neil and Barney are still in CT’s main engine room. After so many years, Matthew, Martin Kirby, Michael Eaude, Anna Vicens and Josep Bosch all remain loyal contributors to Catalonia Today, while El Punt Avui’s expert page designers are always available to dig us out of a hole if necessary.

Meanwhile, former Editor Germà and page designer Floren Morante, who for years ensured the publication was presentable and has been ably replaced by Miguel Fontela, have moved on to other projects, while special mention should be made of those no longer with us. Terry Parris, whose inimitable column appeared for many years in Catalonia Today, and M. Àngels Ribas, who provided essential support and liaison with El Punt Avui, are much missed.

In the past 20 years, many people have contributed in one way or another to Catalonia Today, and sadly there are too many of them to mention here, as their names could fill the rest of this article, from the proofreader Joe Hogan, who was with CT until his retirement a few years ago, to the former New York Times writer Braden Phillips, who put in many hard yards as the weekly newspaper’s Deputy Editor, or Australian writer Brett Hetherington, who for many years provided Catalonia Today with one of its main opinion articles. All of these friends and colleagues have ensured that Catalonia Today continues to explain Catalonia in English like no other publication has or can.