Financial Times criticizes manipulation of news by TVE

UK newspaper focuses on three especially controversial aspects for the corporation: the Catalan independence process, news related to Podemos, and cases of corruption

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BarcelonaLast Tuesday The Financial Times, the leading economic newspaper worldwide, published a report by its correspondent in Spain, Tobias Buck, on the manipulation of news by TVE. Titled "Spanish state broadcaster TVE accused of political bias", the report echoes the protests of the network’s journalists, who sent a delegation to Brussels to file a formal complaint about political meddling in their work by the Rajoy government.

The Financial Times article looks at, among other things, the three areas that receive the most political pressure from the management of the public broadcasting corporation: Catalan independence, Podemos, and cases of corruption. First, it compares the time dedicated to the rallies in favor of and against the Catalan independence process. "Last year’s mass rally received the same attention as a much smaller anti-independence get-together. Mr Rajoy has made opposition to Catalan independence a key plank of his campaign strategy", Buck points out. Secondly, the journalist also notes how the channel doesn’t treat different political parties equally. He claims that Podemos is "marginalized" in the channel’s news, and refers to an interview with Pablo Iglesias by the director of the broadcaster’s 24-hour news channel, Sergio Martín, in which the interviewer congratulated the politician on the release of ETA prisoners. Finally, the article explains how the public channel strives to "underplay cases of corruption". Specifically, he accuses it of ignoring cases of corruption involving Mariano Rajoy or the PP. It also criticizes the way it has presented the scandals revealed by Luis Bárcenas.

Buck notes that Spanish elections, especially the general elections, are to be held soon, and says that these polls mean that "Spain’s national broadcaster has turned into a crucial asset in the political battlefield". In addition, the economic newspaper highlights the close relationship between the head of TVE in Catalonia, Eladio Jareño, and the Catalan PP leader, Alicia Sánchez Camacho, for whom he was press spokesman.

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