Spain’s Pick to Lead News Agency Draws Criticism

Madrid — The man nominated by Spain’s Socialist prime minister to lead one of the world’s largest news agencies is due to appear Thursday before a parliamentary commission that will determine his suitability to head the EFE.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s pick of his former communications spokesperson to head the broadcaster was met with criticism. Opposition parties and some media say the choice could undermine the EFE’s credibility by making it seem as if the state-funded agency is close to the government.

EFE is state-owned but independent from the Spanish government.

As the fourth largest news agency in the world, it plays a significant role in combating disinformation in Spanish-speaking countries, particularly in Latin America.

The man nominated to head EFE — Miguel Angel Oliver Fernández — is a journalist who served as head of communications for Sanchez between 2018 and 2021.

In an interview with VOA, he pointed to his extensive career in journalism as proof that he would be a responsible person to lead EFE.

“I started in 1983, with my whole life dedicated to news,” he said.

Spain’s government always appoints the head of the state-run EFE. But when Sanchez’s government this month announced Oliver as its pick, opposition parties claimed the Socialist government is naming supporters to public office, undermining their impartiality.

They see the naming of a former government spokesperson as an apparent conflict of interest.

On December 7, El País, a left-wing daily newspaper, published an editorial headlined “Respect to the EFE Agency.”

It warned that the appointment could cause “unnecessary damage to institutional decorum” and described Oliver as a person “without the slightest appearance of impartiality.”

“The appointment damages the image of the agency and the government, which has first the responsibility to establish standards of institutional decorum in a democracy,” the editorial said.

It recalled Oliver’s time as head of the government communications department when, it claimed, “he stood out for his militant protection of the government above his service to the media.”

Borja Semper, of the opposition conservative People’s Party, known as the PP, is among those to criticize the nomination.

“This would lower the reputation of EFE because it would appear that political influence is playing a part in an agency which has traditionally been independent from government,” he told VOA. “This move also represents a colonization of public offices by the government of Sanchez which damages their independence.”

When former Justice Minister Dolores Delgado was named attorney general in 2021, critics said the appointment of a Socialist minister risked damaging the independence of the judiciary.

A government spokeswoman, who declined to be named as is the custom in Spain, said it did not want to comment on the matter when asked verbally by VOA.

Semper said despite protests from the PP there was little opposition parties could do to prevent Oliver becoming the new head of EFE.

VOA asked EFE for comment by email but did not receive a response.

Oliver told VOA that he felt honored by the offer of the position.

“To interpret the criticism of the PP, you don’t have to do more than look at the political situation in the country now. There is a lot of division,” he said.  “In terms of the criticism of El País, I would refer you to my journalistic experience and the gratitude that I have for being able to dedicate myself to public events.”

Before his role as a government spokesperson, Oliver worked as an executive at the privately owned media company Mediaset, where he was involved with the relaunch of Cuatro, a television channel he once worked for as a presenter.

Describing the nomination as an honor, Oliver added, “EFE is a global journalistic institution, which is very prestigious. To lead EFE is a dream for any journalist.”

Spain established the EFE at the end of the civil war in 1939 and — according to its website — the agency produces about 3,000 news items per year for web, radio and TV. It is the largest news agency in Latin America.

In countries like Cuba, where a free press is restricted, EFE has an illustrious history of covering events in the Caribbean island since 1975.

Its journalists reported on three papal visits, the 1989 visit of then Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev; the 1996 Helms Burton Act, which strengthened U.S. sanctions against Cuba; Raul Castro taking over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro as head of state in 2008; the first visit of a U.S. president in 88 years and the death of Fidel.

When VOA in 2022 spoke with Gabriela Canas, the EFE president, about the network’s coverage in censored countries, she underscored the importance of EFE saying, “Practically half the news in Latin America about Cuba comes from us.”
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