The turn of the year invites us to take stock of the past and to set goals for the new year. The hundreds of messages received during 2023 in the Defensor del Lector's mailbox allow us to outline the collective assessment that readers make of their newspaper and what they are asking for in 2024. Many of those who have written to me mention decades of subscription on the header, which has often been passed down from generation to generation. They feel, quite rightly, that they have the right to demand the highest quality from La Vanguardia. And it is also legitimately claimed by the more than 100,000 new digital subscribers.
In summary, I think they expect their newspaper to be impartial and objective, not just to inform but to help analyze and understand reality, to be socially sensitive and to be written in precise and irreproachable language. And they wrote to me when they thought we failed them in these commitments. Their messages have not only alerted us when we are not complying, but have made it possible to correct errors or provide new approaches to information.
Along with the complaints, there have also been numerous emails that included congratulations to the newspaper as a whole and to editors or columnists in particular. And when the matter for which they contacted me went beyond a specific complaint and indicated with arguments a substantive issue or a proposal to improve the newspaper, the managers of the different sections have evaluated them.
In addition to purely journalistic questions, the mails received confirm that many of our most loyal readers are also fans of the newspaper's hobbies and other services and when something was not right they were the first to spot it. Another focus of attention that has been confirmed as essential in the face of the incessant increase in digital subscriptions is the technological one, essential so that digital subscribers can read us without shocks. A front that is added to that of the distribution of the printed edition at the door of paper subscribers, who demand maximum reliability and rapid attention when an incident occurs.
The readers have shown once again their close connection with the newspaper, but they have also expressed that they expect maximum rigor and quality in return. All a commitment to be renewed for 2024.
