The Spanish public broadcast network, RTVE, is facing the prospect of more political influence, The Guardian reports.

Recently, the Editors Weblog reported on proposed changes to the board of French newswire Agence France Presse, which could leave the company open to more interference from the state. Now it seems that RTVE is now facing the kind of interference that many feared could occur at AFP if the changes were to be passed.

RTVE already has a number of political representatives on its board; these representatives have now made a bid to use their privileged position to gain access to the network's news before it is broadcast.

The board decided to vote on this policy because certain members, from the conservative People's party, felt that the news had a pro-socialist bias and that such a bias could not be tolerated in a public broadcaster. The only two board members to vote against the change were two union representatives, as the only two Socialist party representatives abstained for unknown reasons.

Staff at the RTVE have been shocked by the move and there have been calls for the board members to resign. Senior figures from both the conservative People's Party and the socialist party Rubalcaba have condemned the controversial move.

Sources: Editors Weblog, The Guardian,