RTVE responds to the harassment of public network reporters at the Ceuta protests: “An intolerable attack on the whole society”

The demonstrations held this Wednesday in Spain around the migration crisis in Ceuta were marked by the presence of far-right radicals. In Madrid, they even harassed several reporters from the public broadcaster, from Telediario, Malas lenguas and Mañaneros 360, while they were doing live connections to report on the protests.

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“Our colleague Antonio Gómez de Olea was heckled and an attempt was made to assault him while he was covering the mobilization live in Cibeles. Also, a journalist from Mañaneros 360 was heckled during the gathering, which again left images of insults and tension against journalists,” denounced the program Malas lenguas almost immediately through its social media profiles.

An hour later, the program presented by Gonzalo Miró, Esther Palomera, and Ana Hinestrosa, which airs on La 1 and La 2, reported a new live assault on one of its workers. “Our reporter Jesús Poveda is heckled in Cibeles. Live from Madrid, several attendees turn against our colleague shouting “¡Pedro Sánchez, hijo de puta!”.

The UGT union of RTVE has reacted to this situation through a statement. “Each time one step further. The assaults on our colleagues reach new levels of aggressiveness and hatred after yesterday’s demonstrations,” it lamented this Thursday in its writing. “Among those who could attend in good faith to support the situation in Ceuta, hordes of savages showed their cowardice by attacking democracy with intolerable attacks on the right to information of this nation, which they say they defend but do not respect. That is not solidarity with Ceuta, that is attacking the coexistence system that this society has granted itself,” UGT defends.

José Pablo López, president of RTVE, has warned of the danger of this situation fueled by right-wing and far-right political parties, while assuring that it has been repeated in other parts of Spain. “Today it was Jesús Poveda in Madrid and other news colleagues in Ceuta and Barcelona and teams from the program Mañaneros. These are not isolated cases. We have been enduring insults and assaults every time we go out to report for more than a month. Although some think it is a fun game, the political and media targeting against RTVE professionals has consequences on the street. Assaulting reporters is dynamiting democracy,” says the executive through social media.