"Kapos were, in many instances, even crueler than the SS themselves. Because their tenuous position depended on the satisfaction of the SS, many Kapos took extreme measures against their fellow prisoners to maintain their privileged positions."

The privileges enjoyed by the 'kapos' of journalism

This paragraph reminded me a lot of the particularly fanatical attitude of many left-wing journalists when it comes to supporting censorship. When it comes to imagining their privileges, many think of the most direct ones, such as public subsidies, institutional advertising or subscriptions paid by state institutions.

However, there are other sources of income, such as the promotion that left-wing politicians and rulers offer to these media through their social media channels (a promotion that translates into advertising revenue for digital media), and also the privileged treatment they receive in the granting of interviews, information and questions in government press conferences, in which often only questions asked by those media that are close to power are admitted. This is something very common in Spain.

The addictive nature of power for journalists who share it

This government support provides a safe environment for these "kapos" of journalism, compared to the situation of independent journalists, who have to make a living without anyone's support or with much smaller support. This safety net that the "kapos" have is almost more important than the subsidies, because in addition to giving them a more comfortable position, it is also their way of sharing to a certain extent the power of the politicians they support, and power is much more addictive than money.

The polarization of journalism from power

On the other hand, governments like Pedro Sánchez's generate a polarized environment that affects the world of journalism, dividing the profession between real media (those close to the power) and "pseudo-media" (those that are critical of the power). We often do not give much importance to this, but this polarization promoted by the power serves to intimidate those "kapos" who have doubts and wonder if they are doing the right thing.

The fear of being labeled as bad journalists by their colleagues or by their political patrons, to whom they themselves have given the authority to decide who is a good or bad journalist, leads them to support without hesitation any abuse committed by the government, putting them in a vicious circle from which it is very difficult to escape.

A problem that will not be solved by remaining silent in the face of these 'kapos'

How to solve this problem? Like many other problems in our society, there is no easy solution. In any case, if the journalists themselves do not actively criticise the attitude of these "kapos", there is nothing to be done, because if these journalists at the service of power feel legitimised to do what they do it is because, very often, other journalists remain silent and look the other way, legitimising them with their silence.

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Image: frame from 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' (1978).