Anna Bosch, TVE journalist, in an image from October 2019.
The News Council of TVE has stated in a statement, published on Monday afternoon, its "shock and deep concern" for the request for protection that the veteran journalist Anna Bosch has sent them.
Bosch, "without a managerial position and without any type of editorial responsibility", as the statement recalls, was called on Thursday, May 5, to the office of the president of RTVE, José Manuel Pérez Tornero, for an emergency meeting to which the president attended accompanied by the general secretary of RTVE, Alfonso Morales, who attended the appointment as a lawyer.
The presidency's version of the events is very different and states that this meeting had been closed weeks before, but had to be delayed due to scheduling problems.
Contacted by this newspaper,
At the meeting, according to Bosch's account, Pérez Tornero reproached the journalist for the content of a message she posted on Twitter, in which she mentioned information published by
Bluper
entitled "RTVE diverted the budget for the promotion of RTVE Play to the Great Consultation, a campaign without impact”.
In that tweet, Bosch expressed his surprise at the news and opined: “@rtveplay is where the present is, the competition, the viewers to win, who no longer sit on the sofa at the time we tell them, nor are they going to see us like street vendors from plaza to plaza”.
RTVE Play is the free digital platform of the public channel that, since the summer of last year, has replaced A la carta.
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RTVE hires José Pablo López as content director
"We understand that summoning a worker to an office without any assistance, and doing so in the presence of a person who presents himself as a lawyer, leaves Anna Bosch in a vulnerable and coercive situation," adds the statement from the Informative Council in its preliminary considerations after hearing the journalist's request for protection.
The body recalls that RTVE lacks a regulation of social networks and that some directors "point out workers with names and surnames from their Twitter account on a daily basis."
For the News Council, the attitude of the presidency of RTVE violates the freedom of expression included in the Constitution.
We grant protection to a TVE worker against a possible violation of her right to freedom of expression.
We issue preliminary considerations.
pic.twitter.com/GODa55kY39
– TVE News Council (@CdItve) May 9, 2022
After the announcement of the Information Council was made public, the presidency of the corporation has replied with its version of the events.
“This partner had publicly requested information on several occasions.
In this meeting, the president transferred to mrs.
Bosch information about the mechanisms that she has at her disposal to formalize the complaints or denunciations that she could eventually have, ”explains the statement.
"At all times, when asked by the worker herself, the fundamental right to freedom of expression was defended, which she and the rest of the people who make up the Corporation exercise on a daily basis."
According to the statement signed by the RTVE presidency, the Secretary General offered his “active collaboration to help Mrs.
Bosch in whatever was necessary, initially focusing on bringing information about the ethics channel and the audit and compliance committee to her knowledge.”
The News Council adds in its statement another issue that it considers "extremely sensitive."
As reported by Anna Bosch, the president assured that he has received dossiers or reports from her and from the journalist Xabier Fortes.
“What are the reasons and purpose of preparing these reports on these two journalists from the TVE news?
Are there similar reports from other RTVE professionals?
An immediate explanation is urgently needed by the presidency in the face of alleged undemocratic practices that contradict the parliamentary mandate for which she was elected, ”the note continues.
“We want to believe that the fateful stage in which RTVE blacklisted workers was made has been overcome.
In the event that this is not the case, this News Council will act accordingly," the statement concludes.
According to the presidency of RTVE, “the mention that the note makes of some alleged dossiers does not correspond to the truth.
It is flatly false.
And the story made without contrasting any facts is extremely worrying.”
The response concludes by reiterating the "respect for freedom of expression and the right to information", values with which the presidency claims to be committed.
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