The controversy broke out after an interview given by the Minister of Education, Fernando Alexandre, to the online newspaper ECO. At the time, the person responsible stated that he found it “unbelievable that the RTP management does not explain this”.
With ‘this’, he was referring to the piece broadcast by the public station, in which Fernando Alexandre was heard saying that “when we put people who are basically all on lower incomes to benefit from the public service, we know that this public service deteriorates”.
Journalists from the RTP newsroom now say they are outraged by the minister’s accusations which, they say, “serious and unjustifiably call into question the good name, professionalism, suitability and ethics” of the newsroom. “The references to alleged ‘camouflaged agendas’ and ‘incompetence’ are not mere criticisms: they are accusations that directly affect the credibility of RTP’s information and its professionals”, reads the statement to which DN had access.
The editing of the piece left out the previous and subsequent sentences from the person responsible for the guardianship that contextualized the statement. This, in fact, was the position defended by the minister as soon as the controversy broke out – which soon took to the stage on social media.
In the interview with ECO, later, Fernando Alexandre assured again that he intended to say precisely the opposite of what the RTP piece made him understand. For Fernando Alexandre, RTP must present a justification for the editorial choice. “RTP was present at the entire session, interviewed me at the end and chose an excerpt that I don’t think was by chance […]…RTP has to explain whether it was incompetence. The management must investigate why the journalist chose that excerpt. Those who were at the session did not get the idea that RTP conveyed. I gave a long speech and contextualized what I was saying”, he said.
It was these statements that now motivate the reaction of the RTP CR, inherently led by Vítor Gonçalves. The aforementioned statement also states that the elected members of the CR call on “the Information Department to: Take a firm public position, repudiating the insinuations and reaffirming the editorial independence, rigor and ethics that guide our work. Clarify the editorial criteria that supported the piece in question, guaranteeing transparency before public opinion.”
And, in the same document, the journalists also ask for intervention from the public station’s Board of Directors: “The Board of Directors also has a duty to defend the good name of RTP and its professionals, ensuring that these accusations do not undermine trust in the journalism we practice”.
DN tried to contact Vítor Gonçalves, RTP’s information director, but so far it has not been possible to speak to the person responsible.