Current Affairs: Spanish state broadcaster TVE accused of political bias

Spanish state broadcaster TVE accused of political bias

For more than 50 years millions of Spaniards have sat down each night to watch the Telediario, the flagship news programme of state broadcaster TVE. In recent months, however, the channel has not just been reporting the news — but making it as well.

TVE and its news programmes stand accused of blatantly favouring the government of Mariano Rajoy and his ruling Popular party, while sidelining opposition voices.

The channel’s own journalists have grown so concerned about political interference that they sent a delegation to Brussels this month to make a formal complaint to the European parliament. In a seven-page document, they describe TVE as a “propaganda instrument in the service of the government” — and chronicle a series of alleged journalistic lapses and manipulations.

With regional elections only a month away and a general election at the end of the year, Spain’s national broadcaster has turned into a crucial political battlefield.

“I have been with the channel for 30 years, and I have to say that it has never been this bad,” says Alejandro Caballero, president of TVE’s information council, an internal ethics watchdog elected by the channel’s editorial staff. “What we want is a channel that is in the service of the public. What we have is a channel that is an instrument of the government, and that is being put to use by the government.”

Some believe the controversy at TVE is symptomatic of a much broader problem in Spain. Analysts such as Victor Lapuente, a governance expert at Gothenburg university, argue that far too many of Spain’s public institutions — from the judiciary and the prosecution service to the civil service and state-backed media — are made to serve the interests of the government of the day.

“The prevailing culture in Spain is that the victor should enjoy the spoils,” he says, pointing out that “thousands of positions” change hands whenever a new government is elected. “But the problem is not just that people are hired or fired — the problem is that civil servants know that being politically neutral will not help their career prospects.”

Founded in 1957, TVE — short for Televisión Española — served for many years as a propaganda instrument for the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Even when Spain returned to democracy in the late 1970, the station regularly drew fire for alleged political bias. Now, however, the trickle of complaints has turned into a torrent.

Mr Caballero and others say the channel systematically downplays or suppresses items that could damage Mr Rajoy’s government, most notably stories involving political corruption. Critics have also rounded on TVE’s coverage of the Catalan independence movement and of Podemos, the new anti-establishment party, saying both are habitually presented in an unfavourable light or marginalised.

In the case of Catalonia, for example, a September rally drawing more than 1m pro-independence protesters was given almost the same weight as a tiny anti-independence demonstration that took place the same day.
 

Pablo Iglesias, the leader of Podemos, has never been interviewed on TVE’s main channel, despite attracting huge interest from other Spanish and international media. When he was eventually invited to appear on the late-night slot of the broadcaster’s 24-hour news channel, he was confronted by five fiercely hostile interviewers, one of whom “congratulated” Mr Iglesias on the recent release of prisoners from the Basque region convicted of terrorism and murder.

Senior TVE executives strongly deny allegations of political bias. “Our reporting is based on journalistic criteria, not political ones. We always lead with the story of the day,” one top official at the channel said.

In a statement to parliament this month José Antonio Sánchez, TVE’s government-appointed president, insisted that “editorial freedom is respected and neutrality is guaranteed” at the broadcaster, and that it was up to the “independent professional” to prepare the news.

Yet there is growing concern also about some recent appointments at the channel. The past year in particular has seen an influx of executives and journalists from rightwing and pro-government media, raising suspicions among veteran TVE journalists that the channel’s directors are trying to establish a “parallel” editorial team ahead of the general election. The new director of TVE’s regional office in Catalonia, for example, is the former spokesman of the PP leader in the northern region.

The previous Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero did attempt to break the link between state broadcaster and the ruling party by passing a law that required a two-thirds parliamentary majority to appoint the channel’s president. That requirement was abolished, however, shortly after Mr Rajoy took office in 2011 — giving the PP a clear run once again.

Whatever happens after the general election, many TVE journalists hope that the two-thirds provision will be restored — forcing parliament to find a consensus around a new non-partisan leadership. “The next prime minister will have to take some serious decisions about public radio and television in Spain,” says Mr Caballero. “The current model does not work — and we are being taken ever closer to the abyss.”

 

Three areas where TVE has been accused of bias and favouring the government
	Corruption Spain’s state broadcaster is accused of underplaying a string of corruption cases that have engulfed Mariano Rajoy’s ruling Popular party. The centre-right group has been shaken in particular by revelations that Luis Bárcenas, a former party treasurer, presided over an illegal slush fund that it was alleged was used to make undeclared cash payments to senior PP leaders. Mr Rajoy and other officials have repeatedly denied the allegations made by Mr Bárcenas.
	Catalan independence Another area of concern is the Catalan independence campaign, which critics say has struggled to get a fair hearing on Spain’s public television news. Last year’s mass rally in the regional capital Barcelona in support of a break with Madrid — which attracted more than 1m people — was given almost the same attention as a much smaller anti-independence rally. Mr Rajoy has made opposition to Catalonian independence a key plank of his campaign strategy.
	Podemos TVE has also faced accusations of downplaying the rise of the anti-establishment Podemos — “We Can” — movement, and overt hostility towards its leader and founder, Pablo Iglesias. When Mr Iglesias was interviewed on TVE’s 24-hour news channel, one presenter “congratulated” him on the recent release of terrorists from the Basque region. Recent polls suggest Podemos could emerge as one of the biggest parties in the next parliament.