Portuguese Democracy and Patterns of Transformation in National Newspapers: A Comparative Model Approach

The Portuguese Revolution of 1974 produced a major transformation on media property. According to the legislation approved by the revolutionary rulers during 1975, all the banks and their interests were nationalized. Almost all main tittles of national press were included in this process, because they were partial or totally owned by societies belonging to the most important financial corporations. The Portuguese state became the owner of a large media group. The analysis of main aspects like political statements, data on press production, official reports allow the identification of the media evolution in this period. This study is focused on editorial policy, management failure and professional behavior, and the relationship between governments and the press. The purpose of this article is to establish a connection between the failure of state policy and the decline of national newspapers and, by opposite, transformations that took place in the Portuguese media property during the nineties.