Lisbon, Sept. 3, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister of parliamentary affairs said on Tuesday that the government wanted to strengthen Lusa's independence so that it is immune to political changes and to value its role while pointing out that making it free of charge might not be a good way forward.
‘Fortunately, Lusa has clearly demonstrated that it is independent in its operation and, more particularly, in its editorial component. We want to reinforce this so that we can be prepared for any eventuality,’ said Pedro Duarte, Portugal's minister of parliamentary affairs, after visiting the agency.
He said that the government is working to find a ‘statutory solution’ that strengthens the levels of independence of Lusa's Board of Directors and the different governing bodies, adding that this could involve an ‘intermediate layer’ that does not depend on the government.
Portugal's minister of parliamentary affairs said Lusa must maintain its regular activity, ‘regardless of whether ministers or the government change or whether the opinion of a minister or government changes. Lusa must be immune to this.’
The minister visited the agency's headquarters this afternoon, meeting with Lusa's management and board.
At the end of the meeting, he visited the agency's work areas and made a few statements.
Pedro Duarte said that the government has the ‘very firm intention’ of valorising the role of Lusa, especially in the face of the current ‘challenging times’, with information circulating in a ‘massive way’, which he said brings problems, particularly with regard to the factuality of events.
Therefore, he said, it is important that there is a public service, through Lusa, that continues to be an example of ‘rigour and credibility’, which must be preserved and valued.
At the end of July, the state bought Global Media and Páginas Civilizadas' 45.71% stake in Lusa for €2.49 million, giving it 95.86% of the news agency's capital.
The contracts were signed at Lusa's premises in Lisbon between the deputy director of the Directorate-General for Treasury and Finance, Lurdes Castro, representing the state, Marco Galinha, of Páginas Civilizadas, and Vitor Coutinho, Diogo Queirós de Andrade and Mafalda Campos Forte, for the Global Media group.
With this decision, the state will hold 95.86% of the capital of the Portuguese news agency.
The previous government, led by António Costa (PS), intended to proceed with the purchase of the shares in Global Media and Páginas Civilizadas. However, on 30 November 2023, the deal failed due to a ‘lack of broad political consensus’ and has now been taken up by Luís Montenegro's PSD/CDS government, which took office in April.
Pedro Duarte emphasised today that this reinforcement of the position in Lusa's share capital was important since it was difficult to align objectives with the previous shareholders, given that they differed from the objectives of the public service.
‘We want to enhance Lusa, both by trying to initiate an important technological modernisation to keep up with the times that are coming and by trying to ensure that the high-quality service that Lusa provides can reach more people, including more media outlets,’ he stressed.
However, he recognised that making the Lusa service free of charge ‘may not be a good way forward’, noting that there are many doubts that this ‘has more advantages than disadvantages’.
He warned that making the Lusa service free could lead to a uniformity of information, with the same source ‘circulating to everyone and everywhere’, emphasizing that Lusa does not exist to replace the various media outlets.
The head of the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio said that the solution could be the price of Lusa's service packages sold to customers.
‘We can also help with the cost structure’ of these media organisations, he concluded.
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