David Alandete, currently a correspondent in Washington, says on X: “Pressures on journalists, like when the current president called me, shouting to change a headline? Or when his press chief already knew in advance the headlines we were going to publish in El País (years ago, I assume this no longer happens) and called to modify them? Or like when one of his ministers informed us of layoffs before they happened? Pressures like those from the infamous PSOELab, which was dedicated to insulting critical journalists through profiles we confirmed were funded by the party? Campaigns like the one where the president went to a major shareholder of Prisa to request a change in editorial direction? This is not a matter of ideology, neither right nor left; it is about the government that has caused the most harm to press freedom. A government that managed to align a media group in its favor and has not stopped pressuring the rest, now even with decrees. (And forgive me if my colleagues think that a headline should be decided by a president and not by the editor of a newspaper).”
Former El País Journalist Explains Pedro Sánchez’s Pressures on Newspapers on Same Day Cabinet Approves “Action Plan for Democracy” to Harass Critical Media
