Punt Diari was born 45 years ago
Today is a special day. Today it is 45 years since a group of people realized a project that seemed impossible: to publish a newspaper in Catalan in the regions of Girona. A newspaper that talks about the nearby reality, but also the global one, with its own and committed vision. A newspaper that was independent, Catalan, regional and democratic. This newspaper was called Punt Diari and came out for the first time on February 24, 1979, with three different editions for each territory and, therefore, three different covers. Therefore, today we want to remember that historic day and everything that has happened since then.
A shared dream
Punt Diari didn’t come out of nowhere. It was the result of a collective dream, of the will of many people who put in their time, their work and their money to make it possible for Catalan to have its own voice in the world of the press. There are many names that deserve to be remembered, from the first to the last, but if you allow us, we would like to highlight Just Manuel Casero and Pius Pujades and also David Marca as representatives of all those people.
Punt Diari would also not have existed without Presence and what happened to Presence. Not without the cooperativists who joined the project and who have been and are the basis of the newspaper. Not without the entrepreneurs who bet on it. All this, however, was not easy. They had no workshops and the rental press was in Barcelona. We can imagine what it must have been like to make a newspaper under those conditions and it has been explained to us by friends who were part of the original editorial team. In any case, there is a history of Punt Diari that will have to be written in detail because thousands and thousands of people have passed through it and made it possible for what was created to reach 45 years. With good and bad moments. With the joint effort of thousands of people who have been workers. With some owners behind who have made it possible to continue this far, Joan Bosch and Roura for many years and Joaquim Vidal afterwards. And now with Joan Vall Clara, who has filled all the roles in this newspaper.
A newspaper that renews itself
He will be 45 years old tomorrow. The newspaper was called Punt Diari and everyone called it El Punt. Then the name was changed to El Punt and people called it Punt Diari. And then came the merger with the older brother, Avui, born on April 23, 1976 thanks also to the collective effort of many people. It is now called El Punt Avui and some people still call it Avui and others El Punt or Punt Diari. Do not care. The newspaper that was born with the adjectives independent, Catalan, regional and democratic has wanted to be faithful to these values. We are many people whose lives have always been linked to the newspaper. That first newsroom was small in number, too much, under the command of the first director, Jordi Negre. They experienced difficult situations, but they overcame them. For paper, anyway, there will never be any more quiet days. We remember, of the three covers, the one about Figueres onions, with information from Narcís Genís. Thousands of covers have been made. Tomorrow we will celebrate the birthday, but we wanted to remember that the newspaper is always made the day before and that, therefore, today is when the colleagues made a newspaper.
