More than 200 people took part in a demonstration in Porto “For Journalism and Democracy”

More than 200 people demonstrated this Wednesday in Porto “For Journalism and Democracy”, in what they hope will be a “turning point” in the crisis facing the sector, and in solidarity with the workers of the Global Media Group (GMG).

The protest marked GMG workers facing dismissal, unpaid wages and benefits, and brought together journalists from various national media outlets and national and local political figures.

“I think this is a turning point for journalism. It started with our fight for titles that deserve respect, we have publications with a rich history (…), but we all know that we have lived for several years in a crisis in journalism, and this seems like the perfect moment to so that we can all think together, in unity, about the difficulties of this sector and about the conditions in which we need to do solid work that is not vulnerable to the economic crisis. conditions,” said director Ines Cardoso, who left the Jornal de Notícias (JN).

On December 6, in an internal statement, the executive committee of GMG, which owns publications such as JN, O Jogo, Diário de Notícias, TSF and others, announced that it would urgently negotiate layoffs with 150–200 workers and continue with the restructuring that, according to him, it was necessary to avoid “the more than predictable bankruptcy of the group.”

“We have known for a long time that the group was underperforming, having difficulties (…) for several years we had been dealing with calls for cost cutting and restrictions, but these efforts were made on an ongoing basis and were therefore quite unexpected. [o anúncio de necessidade de despedimentos no GMG]”, explained the person in charge.

Workers from the group’s printing company, Naveprinter, were also present at the protest and criticized what they called a “cunning trick” that allowed newspapers to be published on newsstands today.

“They went to another printing house to print newspapers, 25 thousand from JN and 10 thousand from O Jogo,” Naveprinter worker and union leader Alvaro Pinheiro explained to Lusa.

According to Alvaro Pinheiro, this never happened: “Newspapers have always been printed on the Naveprinter, but how did they [a Administração da GMG] I knew we were going to mobilize [para a greve] they found a way to ‘take’ the newspapers elsewhere.”

The Union of Manufacturing, Energy and Environmental Workers of the North (Site-Norte) this afternoon accused GMG of violating the right to strike by using a non-group printing press to print today’s newspapers, and promised to step up possible mechanisms to ensure that such behavior is authorized.

The protest began at around 2:00 pm in front of the JN Tower, with journalists and workers from GMG and several other media organizations marching chanting slogans against the “unknown foundation” that bought GMG and “for democracy and journalism.” to the Porto City Council, where the city’s mayor joined the protest.

“I view this with great concern for the rights of JN, TSF and O Jogo workers. The disappearance of these media is a tragedy. This is a tragedy for the country, for the North and, in this particular case, for Porto,” says Rui Moreira, drawing attention to media funding.

According to the mayor, now is not “the time to take palliative measures,” but rather “to look at this as a fundamental situation,” emphasizing that it is not clear why local authorities are subject to restrictions during public procurement.

“This is not just any service, the service that a newspaper provides to the population is not just any service. How can we understand that the State is so paternalistic that it allows itself, the State, to participate in the activities of the media, and well, but why does it not allow municipalities to participate in the production of newspapers,” said Rui Moreira, wondering “if this is due to mistrust of municipal authorities in Portugal.”

The GMG workers’ strike began at 00:00 and will end at 23:59.