The President of the Republic defends transparency regarding “who runs what and controls what in the media”

This Thursday, at the V Congress of Journalists, the President of the Republic said that there must be transparency regarding “who runs what and controls what in the media,” without naming any specific group or body.

Upon arrival at the Cinema São Jorge in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa greeted workers from the Global Notícias group, whose shareholders include a Bahamas-based fund with unknown owners, who held a sign saying “fighting to protect jobs” without making any statements.

In his speech, after diagnosing the situation with journalism in Portugal, the head of state said: “What makes all this inevitable is, firstly, transparency in knowing who runs what and manages what in social communications, with which editorial projects, with which models, with what profiles and the opportunity to give life to this sector.”

“Secondly, all media owners and managers, as well as specialists in current scientific, technological and social changes, are in constant rapprochement, interaction and strategic perspectives, forming a platform for dialogue and rapprochement that makes decisions with journalists. At some point there were some steps, but they stopped too early,” he added.

According to the President of the Republic, it is of the utmost importance that “the State, which is different from those who at any given moment perform the functions of its representation, never shy away from significant debate”, since “there are historical and very important “public” means “and therefore, that “only on the basis of a broad understanding of the various doctrinal, ideological and political forces and hemispheres is it possible to solve this regime problem.”

The head of state entered the V Congress of Journalists accompanied by Supreme Court President Enrique Araujo and sat next to him before intervening.

The opening meeting was also attended by the Minister of the Presidential Administration Mariana Vieira da Silva, the President of the Lisbon City Council Carlos Moedas and representatives of parties with seats in Parliament.

At the exit, in statements to journalists, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed the hope that this congress, “at the time of the elections”, less than two months before the legislative elections on March 10, will be “a great moment for achieving broad mutual understanding.” I would say the regime, in terms of measures that have already been tested in other countries” to support the media sector.

“There are several possible ways: it must be through a very broad party agreement, it must be through general and abstract rules, with a regime of great independence and exceptions, because otherwise the governments themselves will have a lot of power to accept any initiative,” he thinks.

Regarding media ownership, he insisted that “it is necessary to know who owns what”, with “the law being clear on the transparency of the entities, the management, the people in charge”, but stressed that he was not talking about cases specific.

At the V Congress of Journalists, the head of state expressed admiration for their resistance and mobilization.

“This is the great meaning of this congress: no one stands aside, as at student gatherings in other times. And I understand you and admire you for that. Having never been a journalist by profession, I have been working as a journalist for many decades with my soul,” he said.

Marcelo Rebelo de Souza reiterated that he proceeded from the principle that he would “never and will never initiate a jurisdictional procedure” against the media, taking into account what he has also written or spoken about the owners of sovereign bodies in the past.

At the end of his speech, in which he recalled the times of censorship, he stated that he was confident that “those who do not know or are nostalgic for events before April 25 that they did not know, or who reconstruct them in their imagination even without being able know or understand this, they will pass.”

“They will pass, they will be fleeting, but April 25 will remain. It will remain forever. And with it there is always democracy. And with it there is always journalism,” he exclaimed.