Learn Spanish (Latin America): Fue a la redacción adonde mandaron el comunicado. - It was to the newsroom that they sent the statement.

In these emphasis sentences (cleft sentences), the verb ser (to be) usually matches the tense of the main action. Because the statement was sent in the past (mandaron, preterite tense), we use the past tense Fue (It was) instead of the present tense Es (It is).

Why does the Spanish sentence use adonde when the English translation says "that"?

When emphasizing a place in Spanish, you use donde (where) or adonde (to where) rather than que (that). Because the action is about sending something to a destination, adonde is the natural choice here.

If adonde means "to where", why do we also need a before la redacción?

The phrase we are emphasizing is the destination: a la redacción (to the newsroom). In Spanish cleft sentences, you keep the preposition with the emphasized element. So you need a to show the direction, even though adonde later echoes that idea of movement.

Is redacción related to the English word "redaction"?