Political Pressures in TVE: Cascade Effects, Morphology of Manipulations and Professional and Personal Reprisals

Abstract

The journalistic field of Spanish public service broadcaster has traditionally been questioned for its lack of political autonomy because of pervasive news manipulations over the course of years. Prompted by these challenges and growing sociopolitical pressures to set a politically free public governance, this study aims to explore how political pressures interfere in the news production process in TVE, elaborating on their potential impact at professional and practical level. Drawing upon 45 in-depth interviews with TVE newsworkers, our fi ndings first illustrate the reach and morphology of political pressures in TVE, examining how the news production management structures the anatomy of political interferences in the newsroom. Then, the study outlines the main typologies of pressures, illustrating the main consequences for journalists’ labor conditions and journalistic practice. We argue that both internal and external political pressures are inextricably inter-related, showcasing their structuration through a top-down cascade effect.