Concepción Cascajosa, elected new interim president of RTVE

MADRID, 27 (EUROPA PRESS)

The Board of Directors of RTVE approved this Wednesday, March 27, the appointment of counselor Concepción Cascajosa as the new interim president of the public Corporation for a period of six months, as sources close to RTVE have informed Europa Press.

The decision was adopted in a new meeting that started at 10:00 a.m. and after the session of more than nine hours on Tuesday, which ended with the dismissal of the until now interim president Elena Sánchez and authorizing the termination of the employment relationship of José Pablo López as Director of Contents of the Corporation.

The Council on Tuesday started at 9:00 a.m. with the proposal for the dismissal of López by the interim president. The dismissal of the Content Director of the Public Corporation went ahead thanks to the support of the councilors proposed by the PP, Sánchez herself and the independent José Manuel Martín Medem. On the opposite side were the councilors proposed by the PSOE, the PNV and one from Podemos, Roberto Lakidain.

Subsequently, the interim president Elena Sánchez was dismissed by the Board of Directors of the public body, at the proposal of counselor Roberto Lakidain - appointed by Podemos - upon obtaining a sufficient majority.

In this scenario, the Board of Directors of the public met again this Wednesday to discuss the election of the new Presidency, a position for which two councilors had applied, both appointed at the proposal of the PSOE, Concepción Cascajosa and Ramón Colom.

The chosen one, finally, has turned out to be Concepción Cascajosa, until now president of the Equality Observatory. However, to unblock the negotiation and as a condition to obtain their support, the journalist and independent advisor José Manuel Martín Medem has demanded the resignation of Alfonso Morales, current general secretary of RTVE. In this way, the Council has ruled out the possibility of establishing a rotating Presidency, an option that was not to the liking of the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI).

Sources from the Popular Party (PP) were critical this Tuesday of the fact that Concepción Cascajosa recognized during her appearance in Congress that she was a member of the PSOE.

The last few weeks have been marked by the debate generated by the signing of comedian and presenter David Broncano with a new program for the 'access prime time' slot. On March 11, the RTVE directors chose to postpone the vote on the hiring of Broncano in an extraordinary Board of Directors, due to doubts about the viability of a contract that would involve the payment of 42 million euros for three seasons plus VAT (14 million euros per year), from September 2024 to July 2027.

The majority of the Board of Directors rejected the contract proposed by the Content Directorate led by José Pablo López. Council sources have indicated to Europa Press that this issue has been postponed until next week.

The journalist Elena Sánchez Caballero was elected the new interim president of the RTVE Board of Directors in September 2022, replacing José Manuel Pérez Tornero, who announced his resignation because he understood that the conditions for governance of the entity or the circumstances for make your project viable.

THE GOVERNMENT, WITH "CONCERN"

In the last Council of Ministers this Tuesday, the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports and Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, acknowledged that she was aware of and, furthermore, with "great concern" the information and "leaks" about that Board of Directors. from RTVE. Alegría added that what is "truly fundamental and important" is to preserve the independence of RTVE as the quality public service that it is.

For his part, the PP spokesperson in Congress, Miguel Tellado, pointed out that RTVE is the example that "where there is political interference by the Government, it is generated in all institutions." "And it is evident that there is an attempt to control all public media by the Government of Spain and it has led to this situation of absolute instability," he said in the Lower House.

On the other hand, in a statement published on the social network that has been reached by the RTVE Board of Directors, appointed by the political parties".

"After the dismissal of the interim president Elena Sánchez and the director of General Content, José Pablo López, RTVE once again finds itself immersed in absolute uncertainty. In order for RTVE to be able to comply with the public service mandate entrusted to it, this situation of blockade, instability, insecurity and without a clear direction," they added.

CASCAJOSA CONCEPTION

In July 2021, the RTVE Board of Directors elected Concepción Cascajosa as president of the RTVE Equality Observatory, to strengthen this body, made up of representatives of workers, management and social organizations. Cascajosa was already a member of the Board of Directors.

Born in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) in 1979, Concepción Cascajosa has a doctorate in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Seville with an Extraordinary Prize (2005). She is a professor of Audiovisual Communication in the Department of Communication of the Carlos III University of Madrid (2012-), she has two recognized six-year research years and the Excellence Award from the Social Council (2016).

In addition, since 2013 she has been the director of the Master's Degree in Film and TV Scriptwriting and is vice dean of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication Studies (2014-) and author or editor of nine books and a hundred academic publications. She collaborates in media such as 'El País', 'Fotogramas' and 'Serielizados'. In March 2021 she was elected RTVE advisor by the Cortes.