400 people gathered in Lisbon to celebrate the launch of CNN Portugal (and no one was missing) – Television
The broadcast was scheduled to start at 9 pm this Monday, November 22, but before that, at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, in Lisbon, an inaugural ceremony took place. CNN Portugal, in which MAGG was present, which was attended by the chairman of the Board of Directors of Media Capital Mário Ferreira, Rani Raad, chairman of CNN Comercial Mundial and even Richard Quest, journalist and CNN pivot, recognized for his expressiveness.
In total, 400 are present, appointed to mark the debut of a channel that, in Portugal, wants to work on television information in a different way, “American-style” and with rigor always as a cornerstone, as Isaura Quevedo, journalist and one of the channel pivots, explained to MAGG.
It was this, in fact, that before the speeches, Richard Quest insisted on reinforcing the entrance of Mosteiros do Jerónimos, speaking of the launch of CNN Portugal as a differentiating milestone in the form of journalism in Portugal, wishing “good luck” to the competition. “I have to wish our competition good luck. From now on, it will be competing with those who invented the concept of permanent news for 24 hours”, said Quest.
This differentiating tone, in fact, was reinforced during the inaugural speeches. Nuno Santos, the director of the new channel, guaranteed that CNN Portugal will contribute “to make our democracy more robust”.
Raani Raad began by saying that CNN arrived in Portugal with a “spirit of exploration” and a sense of duty.
“We know that in Portugal there is a very popular saying that goes something like: a lie has a short leg. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from CNN over all these decades, it’s that these legs can run fast and they can wreak havoc . Therefore, this evening, together with our brothers and comrades in Portugal, we guarantee that our work will go through minimizing the emission impact through these legs”, explained the president of CNN Worldwide Commercial.
“Without strong journalism, it is democracy itself that weakens”
Mário Ferreira, the last to speak before the channel’s launch, at 9 pm, spoke of a project whose job it is to “bring the news to the citizens”.
“Without strong and free journalism, it is democracy itself that weakens. This is even more serious these days, when the world, but also our country, has seen radical and populist movements grow, molds that do not want to be scrutinized nor do they feel obligated to speak the truth, “said the morale.
The Jerónimos Monastery was attended by, among other figures, names such as Vice Admiral Gouveia e Melo, Tony Carreira and Pedro Abrunhosa (both Media Capital shareholders), actor Diogo Infante, Joana Amaral Dias, Economy Minister Pedro Siza Vieira Isabel Moreira and even André Ventura who, at Jerónimos’ entrance, Socialist Party deputy Isabel Moreira who, at Jerónimos’ entrance, spoke of the channel’s arrival as a step to “help the democratization of information”.
“We need objective and shared information. We live in a very fast-paced world and any effort to improve information is always welcome”, said the single deputy and leader of Chega in statements to CNN Portugal.
António Costa also made a statement, speaking of the marriage between TVI and CNN as a process which could only “result in good information, attached to the facts, which allows the debate to be based” on dialogue.
“I expect rigor from journalism [feito pela CNN Portugal], because what filters the truth from the untruth is, just, the professionalism of the information. Professional journalism is increasingly important, “stressed the prime minister.
Carlos Moedas, current president of the Lisbon City Council, also spoke of CNN Portugal as “a brand of excellence” and as “a guarantee that what we are reading, listening to and talking about is true”. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa underlined that “everything that is good for the media is good for the country”.
A “different” channel that can serve as an “example”
Manuela Ferreira Leite, one of the figures present at the channel’s presentation, insisted that this “is no longer an information channel”.
“It’s a different channel and we hope it will be different. CNN’s qualifications and characteristics are, of course, different from ours and we hope that it will serve as an example for other channels”, he says. After all, in his words, “anything that serves as an example to other channels can only be useful for those who manage the information”.
On whether it is currently more difficult to be a commentator, Manuela Ferreira Leite assured that before “commentation activity was not so intense”. “But it also became more difficult, because there was no possibility of a contradiction,” he explained to journalists.
“Currently, this aspect is more surmountable through the comment, as long as the comment also has the right to be contradictory”, he underlined.
The former minister explained that he was invited to stay on CNN Portugal after having taken on a comment space on TVI 24. “I’ll stay on CNN Portugal. Maybe not in the same format, but in a little different, more adapted to the rules and models “of the new Media Capital channel, he guaranteed.
Júlio Magalhães, one of the station’s senior journalists, talks to journalists about how the space he will share with Judite Sousa will be like. “There is a lot of this thing about, in American culture, having a newspaper in which the journalist who presents also gives an opinion, chooses the resources and the themes. And this will make a difference in our newspaper”, he explains.
Despite this, Júlio Magalhães and Judite Sousa will never present the information block together, at 9 pm, together. They will run weekly, he says. When asked if he missed television, Júlio Magalhães is assertive: “Having, of course. It’s a homecoming. I’m coming to a new project with the CNN stamp after so many years of career. I think I deserve it.”
The new channel of the Media Capital group, which has Nuno Santos as its director, will replace TVI24 as of this Monday.
The information blocks are already known and from next Tuesday, 23, the period from 6:30 am to 10 am will be conducted by Isaura Quevedo and André Neto de Oliveira, in Lisbon, with Diana Bouça-Nova from the CNN Portugal studios in Porto .