Home Seminars Events Media Landscape Newsroom Media News Resources About EJC

Search the website

Media Landscape - Portugal

INTRODUCTION

image

The mainland part of Portugal is located at the extreme south-western tip of the Iberian Peninsula and covers an area of 91,985 square kilometres. It is bounded to the North and East by Spain and to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal also includes the Azores and Madeira archipelagos.

At the end of 2004 Portugal had a population of 10.536 million inhabitants, of whom 9.8 million live on the mainland. Population density is 112 inhabitants per square kilometres. Portugal has one of the youngest populations in the European Union: about 16.7% have less than 15 years old. Lisbon is the nation’s capital and has 1.8 million inhabitants, including those in the greater metropolitan area. Some economic figures (2004): Active population – 5.523 thousand; Gross Domestic Product – 135.035 Euros; Gross Domestic Product per capita – 12.817 Euros.

By the mid-twenties the country’s economic and financial situation was very serious – something that led to the so-called “New State”, which was marked by corporatism, authoritarianism and the suppression of democratic liberties, like it happened with national-socialism in Germany and with fascism in Italy. Following a military coup in April 1974, Portugal returned to a democratic regime. Since 2005 the Political Parties represented in the Parliament are Socialist Party, Social-Democratic Party, Portuguese Communist Party, Popular Party, Left Block and the Ecologist Party «Os Verdes».

Of Latin origin, Portuguese is the third most widely spoken European language in the world and is the mother tongue for about 200 million people. Countries in which Portuguese is the official language are: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe (Africa), Brazil (South America) and East Timor in Asia.


1. WRITTEN PRESS

Portugal has one of the lowest average circulation of daily newspapers across Europe: only 83 numbers for one thousand inhabitants. The press circulation numbers tend to diminish in the future. The importance of free press tends to increase. It appeared in 1996 in Portugal, with Jornal da Região, from the group Impresa. It adapted a strategy of different editions for each region, reaching fourteen editions. It lost importance with the conversion of Destak into a daily newspaper and the launching of Portuguese edition of Metro.

In 2005, and for the first time, free daily press achieved larger circulation figures than traditional press. Destak, Metro and Jornal da Região achieved together, by daily edition, an average of 450,000 copies, overcoming by far the traditional daily press (both quality and popular press).

Four main media groups control media property, with exception to what belongs to the State and to the Catholic Church. They are: Impresa (property of the former prime-minister Francisco Balsemão), Media Capital (besides numerous specialized magazines, has its most important power in the audiovisual), Cofina (with the dailies Correio da Manhã, Jornal de Negócios and Record, the free newspaper Destak and the magazines Sábado, TV Guia and more than ten of specialized magazines) and Controlinveste (the only of the four main groups with presence in all sectors: it has several specialized magazines and newspapers; the informational radio TSF and Sport TV).

Only Media Capital is owned by a non Portuguese group, the Spanish Prisa, but in all of the above groups there’s a small or large participation of foreign capital. Catholic Church has, directly or indirectly, a strong presence in local and regional press.


2. AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA

Each Portuguese watches, in average, 3 hours and 30 minutes of television per day. Commercial television channels SIC, owned by Impresa and TVI, owned by Media Capital, the latter with more popular characteristics, continue to dispute audience share leadership.

Their licenses were renewed for the next 15 years by the media regulator in 2006. Television continues to concentrate the major slice of advertising revenues (47.5% in 2004), followed by press and radio (7.2%). Programming choices for the two commercial operators increased, namely in Portuguese fiction and the so-called reality shows.

Sports, in particular football games, and information are the television genres which gather public preference. TV Cabo was the first television cable platform launched in Portugal and, in spite of the emergence of other competitors, holds a market share of around 80%. TV Cabo is the only Portuguese provider of television satellite service.

In 2005, cable television service was subscribed by 1.4 million customers, which represent 13.3% of Portuguese population. The satellite television service was subscribed in 2005 by 394 thousand customers, which represent 3.7% of Portuguese population.

National and regional stations property is concentrated in the hands of the State and Portuguese media groups. Public service radio company, RDP, includes Antena 1 (generalist), Antena 2 (cultural), Antena 3 (dedicated to music for a younger public) and RDP Africa.

Catholic Renascença Group – which holds Rádio Renascença, RFM and Mega FM – continues to lead the radio segment in Portugal. In the first trimester of 2006, RFM and Rádio Renascença were the more listened radio stations in Portugal, followed by Rádio Comercial and Antena 1.


3. NEWS AGENCIES

At national level there is only one news agency, Agência Lusa. Its shareholder structure combines public and private stakeholders.


4. DIGITAL SERVICES

The introduction of digital terrestrial radio and television has been slower than expected. RDP owns the contest for management of national digital network of radio broadcasting.


5. ONLINE MEDIA

In the end of 2005, there were 1.4 Internet users and 11.1 millions subscribers of mobile phone service in Portugal. The majority of national and regional media, including press, radio and television, holds an Internet website.


6. MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS

Journalists and media owners have the most powerful organizations within media organizations. There are about 7,000 journalists accredited with professional licence, although not all are actually on job. About 5,000 are organized in the National Journalists Union (Sindicato Nacional dos Jornalistas), a European Federation of Journalists (FEJ) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) member.

Confederação Portuguesa de Meios de Comunicação Social (Portuguese Media Confederation) is the largest entrepreneurs association in the media sector, directly or indirectly representing more than 600 media enterprises.


7. MEDIA POLICIES

Cavaco Silva Governments (1985-1995) brought a media policy characterized by privatization and liberalization. After Antonio Guterres’s six year socialist Governments (1995-2001), the XV Constitutional Government Program, conducted by José Manuel Durão Barroso (2002-2004) defined even more liberal policies for the media sector.

The government headed by José Sócrates (since 2005) proposed the creation of a new media regulator; and new legislation to regulate property concentration, abuse of dominant position; and the promotion of transition to digital platforms.


8. ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS

The reform of regulatory framework implied, in 2006, the extinction of Alta Autoridade para a Comunicação Social (AACS – Media High Council) and the creation of Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (ERC – Regulatory Entity for Media). ERC pursues the assurance of pluralism; diversity; freedom of speech and information; protection of more sensitive audiences such as children; accuracy and reliable nature of information.

The government proposed a new legal framework for journalists (“Estatuto do Jornalista”); a professional ethics commission to be created within Comissão da Carteira Profissional do Jornalista, organization headed by a judge, where journalists and entrepreneurs are represented.

Since 1997 there is an ombudsman in the daily newspapers Record, Diário de Notícias, Público and Jornal de Notícias. In April 2006 television and radio ombudsmen were vested, who will deal with audience commentaries.


9. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FUTURE TRENDS

Main media conglomerates reinforce their positions and don’t hide their whish to grow even further, in the country and abroad, which raise questions about the future of pluralism and employment of journalists and other professionals.

In 2005, and for the first time, free daily press achieved larger circulation figures than traditional press. Free press tends to grow even further in the future. The shutdown of A Capital – an afternoon daily newspaper converted in morning newspaper in its last phase – reinforced the end of afternoon daily press in Portugal (three afternoon newspapers were still published in Portugal in the beginning of the nineties). Apparently, it constitutes an irreversible tendency.

Nowadays it aggravated the professional fragility and identity crisis of journalists, tied up between contradictory demands: the respect for professional and ethic rules and the corporate interest for information essentially turned to audiences and commercialization. As a consequence of progressive development of convergence processes, stimulated by growing implementation of new technologies, the decrease of journalism specific weight and its dilution within a content industry controlled by telecommunications, information technologies and audiovisual is notorious.

One single corporate, PT, concentrates main telecommunication networks: copper, terrestrial television and cable. If SONAE, property of Belmiro de Azevedo, manages to buy PT, then it’s very likely that cable network will be alienated.

Transition to digital radio and television and switch-off will take longer than previously foreseen. Uncertainty about the future and quick technological changes are factors, which advice economic impact studies to heavy investments.

Digital journalism is an incognito in the near future. Until 2000 enterprises revealed much enthusiasm for multimedia projects and for training of future multimedia journalists. After 2000, however, many projects were terminated or downsized, which lead to unemployment of thousand of journalists. Yet, new technologies are changing journalistic practices and the nature of reception of news.

Converge between technologies, networks, services and enterprises will most probably stimulate an approximation between media and telecommunication regulators.


10. REFERENCES

  • Reliable data related to media activities and results is provided by the following institutions:
  • Several universities (in Lisboa, Minho, Porto, Beira Interior) possess research and investigative centres in media and communication studies. Two national institutions congregate professors, investigators and professionals:
    • Associação Portuguesa de Ciências da Comunicação (SOPCOM – Portuguese Association of Communication Studies http://www.sopcom.pt and
    • Centro de Investigação Media e Jornalismo (CIMJ – Media and Journalism Investigative Centre http://www.cimj.org), the last one turned specifically to the study of journalistic field.
  • There are finally several magazines and journals concerned with media studies:
    • Jornalismo e Jornalistas (every three month), edited by Clube de Jornalistas;
    • Media XXI (every two month), which also focus publicity, marketing and managerial activities;
    • Media & Jornalismo (two numbers a year), published by CIMJ;
    • Revista de Comunicação e Linguagens (two numbers a year), published by Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Linguagens;
    • Trajectos (two numbers a year), published by ISCTE;
    • Comunicação e Sociedade (two numbers a year), published by Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade.

October 2006


11. AUTHORS

Fernando Correia has been a journalist since 1966. He is editor of the cultural magazine Vértice and editor of periodic publications for Editorial Caminho. He holds a Philosophy degree from Universidade de Lisboa and a Masters degree in Communication, Culture and Information Technology from ISCTE. Fernando Correia is associate-professor at the Universidade Lusófona (Lisbon) and teacher at CENJOR. He is the author of The journalists and the news stories (1997), Journalism and society (2000) and Journalism, Economic Groups and Democracy (2006).

Carla Martins is media analyst in media regulator. In parallel, she is Communication and Journalistic Studies Professor at Universidade Lusófona and Escola Superior de Comunicação Social. Journalist since 1997, she worked as journalist in Jornalismo & Jornalistas and Media XXI magazines and in Clube de Jornalistas TV program. She holds a under graduation in Philosophy, a Master degree in Contemporary Philosophy from Faculdade de Letras de Coimbra and develops her PhD thesis in the field of Communication Studies. Carla Martins is author of Hannah Arendt’s Concept of Public Sphere (2005).


12. MEDIA RESOURCES

Newspapers

Audio/Visual Media

Television

Media Institutions

Blogs/Civil Media

Excerpt from EUROPEAN MEDIA GOVERNANCE: THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL DIMENSIONS, published by Intellect (http://www.intellectbooks.com).

Countries

Comment on Portugal

Have you noticed anything we missed, or do you have any corrections? Please let us know.