The research group Political Communication, Journalism, and Democracy (POLCOM-GRP) publishes 'Periodisme i política durant la Transició: Antonio Franco i la direcció de diaris', a booklet derived from the seminar organized by the group at the UPF Poblenou campus last January.

The seminar featured journalists Lluís Bassets, Xavier Roig, Andreu Missé, Xavier Vidal-Folch, and Milagros Pérez Oliva, who were invited to reflect on the role of newspaper editors between the late Francoism period and the Transition, drawing on their professional experience with Antonio Franco. Franco's figure represents the innovative spirit that entered newspapers during those years, fostering substantial changes in the information model, newsroom organization, and the relationship between editors and the political and business worlds.

The booklet is divided into two parts. The first contains each speaker’s opening remarks, based on a series of questions posed by POLCOM-GRP researchers. The second part includes contributions from the colloquium, which was open to public participation and delved deeper into the topics presented in the first part while adding new insights. The booklet can be read and downloaded from the UPF Digital Repository.

Among its lines of research, POLCOM-GRP has focused particularly on studying Catalan and Spanish media and journalism during the Transition. After examining the role of foreign correspondents during this period and investigating the political role of newspapers, weekly publications, and general information magazines, the group now takes a step further by focusing on the role of newspaper editors.

Antonio Franco Estadella (Barcelona, 1947-2021) trained at the Church of Barcelona’s School of Journalism. His first experience as a media editor was in 1969 at the weekly El Maresme in Mataró. He went on to serve as deputy editor of Diario de Barcelona (1976), founder and editor of El Periódico de Catalunya in two phases (1982-1986 and 1988-2006, also directing the Catalan edition from 1997 to 2006), deputy editor of El País in Barcelona (1982-1988), and founder of this newspaper's Catalan cultural supplement, Quadern (1982).