The JN Editorial Board warned the ERC about alleged editorial interference by GMG

The Editorial Council (CR) of Jornal de Notícias (JN) has sent a statement to the Social Communications Regulatory Authority (ERC), warning of situations that may constitute editorial interference by the Global Media Group, it announced in a statement on Friday.

In a press release, the Porto-based newspaper said the exhibition, launched on Saturday, focuses on six themes: employees (service providers), collective layoffs, disappearing magazines, changing “websites”, packed and unused archives and the lack of a video studio .

“The editorial board understands that, in addition to the devaluation of the Jornal de Notícias, there are problems of editorial intervention, changes in the editorial matrix, preservation of the archive and even the survival of a differentiated and differentiating newspaper that gives the people a voice and preserves a part of the country in the Portuguese media space that is unlikely will have any other visible presence,” the statement said.

In this context, the CR called on the ERC to “stop the current activities of the Executive Commission.” [do Global Media Group]who seems to be stubbornly attacking JN.”

Pointing out that “the legislation allows for the prevention of actions to manage and control a company by shareholders who do not comply with duties of communication and transparency,” they ask the regulator to “firmly protect this historic newspaper, which is not only the heritage of the country, but also the guarantor of its protection and support for democracy.”

Among the above, regarding collaborators, the CR clarifies that out of 71 people, from 12 to 15 have regular participation, depending on the current situation. [mas] only four have monthly contracts. Of the remaining 67 employees, about 20 make play sheets only once or twice a month, and the rest, about 35, collaborate, piecemeal, from time to time, depending on local news, we read.

In the case of collective dismissal, CR provided the ERC with a record of the process, from the calling of the union delegates to the meeting at which they were informed of the intention to dismiss between 140 and 150 people, 40 of whom were in the JN editorial. The team, which includes 80 journalists between Lisbon and Porto, including directors, reviewers and program participants, received an email from management announcing its intention to fire 200 workers during the first of two days of the strike, December 6 and 7.

The CR understands that the threat to cut the JN editorial staff in half, as well as the non-payment of December salaries and Christmas benefits, “represent not only a form of pressure on workers, but also contribute to the deterioration of working conditions for journalists, which has a direct impact on freedom of the press and, in addition, Portuguese democracy.”

The same organization also regrets the way “the archive is stored in boxes in a warehouse, which poses a serious threat to the survival of this cultural and historical heritage of Portugal.”

Criticism also lashed out at the “lack of a JN Direto studio”, seeing CR’s absence as “a setback to the work being done by the newspaper, which has established a strong video and digital presence, winning awards and reader trust in the last decade and a half.”

“The absence of the studio means, in addition to lost income, a blow to JN’s hard-won visibility in such a strategically important area, the loss of one of the differentiating poles of Jornal de Notícias, a company with a century-old history. The routine that has been known is being adapted to the times, new languages ​​and audiences, with creative and unique products in the country,” the statement concludes.

On Wednesday, GMG workers staged a daylong strike against the proposed dismissal and non-payment of wages.