TVE journalists clash over censored interview with Prime Minister Sánchez

On Wednesday, the TVE newsroom experienced a heated episode when the head of Content, Maribel Sánchez-Maroto Inarejos and Jon Ariztimuño, ordered the removal of a paragraph that voiced staff criticism of assigning the prime minister’s interview to the external producer La Cometa TV and journalists Jesús Cintora and Esther Palomera. The edit, carried out covertly, violated the RTVE Mandate Framework that requires all news and institutional content to be produced internally.

The decision triggered a spontaneous gathering of journalists at the TD1 editing desk, a wave of messages via WhatsApp and email, and even a worker’s anxiety-related hospitalization. The staff accused senior managers, including José Pablo López, of yielding to government pressure. After negotiations, the union representatives secured a promise to reinstate the censored line in the following Telediario edition, though the change was not implemented in time. The incident underscores an ongoing power struggle between the Informativos Council and the current leadership, with a further meeting scheduled to address the fallout and calls for broader strikes.