The Ministry of the Interior prepared a dossier of journalists with their political ideologies
The document describes the political positions and the professional trajectory of different active journalists
Political positions, photographs, details about professional background, and comments on the work of various active journalists. This is the information contained in a dossier prepared in 2024 by some members of the Communication Office of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.
As reported by El Confidencial and confirmed by ARA, this document contains comments on the political ideology of dozens of journalists and their activities in print, radio, and television media. Specifically, it contains descriptions of each profile with terms such as "conservative leaning," "disinformation," "critical of the amnesty," or "clearly left-wing and supports the government," and lists in alphabetical order the journalists who write about or comment on matters related to the government.
Sources from the ministry explained to ARA that it is an informative and internal document. They rejected any type of discrimination by the Communication Office of the Ministry of the Interior, which they assert serves "all media and journalists, without distinction."
In this sense, they affirm to this media outlet that it is not a dossier designed to go against anyone, but rather an "informative" document "without any significance." This is the same position later defended by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, in a press conference from Ceuta in which he denied that there was "any spurious purpose" in the document, which he insisted is "a working document" and "internal."
Sources from the ministry later added that the document was not intended to establish any "censorship" or any "restriction or limit" on the work of journalists. However, they apologize to the professionals who may have felt offended by the content of the document and noted that the assessments included have not "conditioned the work" of the ministry's communication office toward the journalists and analysts appearing on the list.
According to El Confidencial, the list was only prepared by a part of the communication team, as some of its members did not feel comfortable with the execution of the report. Furthermore, the communication team emphasizes that Minister Grande-Marlaska is not linked to the report, as he never commissioned it and has not had access to it either.