"Some people, without even hearing you, already say they don't like you"

Journalist Jesús Cintora (Ágreda, Soria, 48 years old) returns to TVE. He takes the helm of 'Malas lenguas' (Monday to Friday at 7:00 p.m. on La 2), a daily current affairs program where analysis, entertainment, and humor serve as an antidote to misinformation. The presenter thus returns to public broadcasting following the controversial cancellation of 'Las cosas claras'.

-Have you been a victim of any hoaxes?

-I can particularly recount that I began experiencing lies, and many of them, about me when we did 'Las mañanas de Cuatro'. As the audience grew, so did the publication of hoaxes against me. Not only against me but also against my family. There are hoaxes published intentionally and with a clear interest in harming the rival. An absolute wear campaign was launched. There are many things published about me and my family that are not true, and they remain there, now that digital memory is so often discussed. I can recount this particular case because I'm asked about it, but it happens generally. They can even invent a parallel reality for you. This is happening, and there are people who dangerously believe it.

-With 'Las cosas claras', you left TVE amidst controversy. You said goodbye with the phrase: "They took us off a program with one government (referring to 'Las mañanas de Cuatro'), they also take us off with another government".

-'Las cosas claras' was a program made with enormous dedication and a very talented team during a difficult time like the pandemic. We provided a very dignified public service. The program was canceled when its evolution was very good and it was consolidating, with that "cruising speed" we had achieved. It was outrageous, I'm not going to reveal anything new, but life goes on and stages are covered. I have never stopped saying that it was an outrage, I have no reason to deny it even though I am returning here, to this public channel.

-How do you feel about returning to TVE?

-It's a new home. I was in the Elipa neighborhood doing a podcast. As a journalist, I have done very varied things, from local radio to prime-time programs, being a panelist, or now on La 2. Life, professionally, is a continuous learning process, and I have always been offered formats to keep learning. In 'Malas lenguas', I will also have to learn because there is humor, and that's not my field. I will try to represent all possible sensitivities, which is what I believe I did when I was here in the previous stage.

-How do you handle being labeled as "the left's spokesperson" and being reproached for now saying what is true or false?

-There are people who like me more, people who like me less, and people who don't like me at all. It's the way of life. The only thing I promise is work, which is what I was taught to do from a very young age at home, in the village. I have tried to 'reborn' after some serious professional setbacks. But others have suffered more serious ones, like when my friend and university colleague David Beriáin was killed, and I had to report it live. I have to do my job as best as possible. When I go live, I don't think about the critic, but about everything going well. I won't hide my ideas; they are what I have, but in the program we did on public television in the previous stage, you could see people with very diverse political sensitivities. It was a program that had that critical point: if electricity prices rose, it was reported, and if it had to be criticized, it was criticized. Some people, without even hearing you, already say they don't like you.

-You are coming to La 2, a channel that has always had a more cultural touch. Are you worried about the audience?

-I have experience, and not just once but several times, where the program was doing very well in terms of audience, and I was removed. With all humility, we are going to a channel and a time slot where there is no habit of offering the content we are going to do. With 'Las mañanas de Cuatro', we started with a 5% audience, but we grew rapidly. On La 2, we start with lower indices, but I am not doing this thinking about the audience, but about doing it as well as possible so that as many people as possible can watch it. The idea is to grow, and hopefully, we will be allowed to do so.