Journal papers by Nelson Ribeiro
Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 2022
The article demonstrates how Portugal lacked a true policy of imperial broadcasting which led it ... more The article demonstrates how Portugal lacked a true policy of imperial broadcasting which led it to become dependent on colonial stations for the dissemination of colonialism. The broadcasters established in the Portuguese Empire dedicated significant airtime to the dissemination of Portugal’s colonial mission but also promoted local identities with programming echoing the lifestyle of the colonial elites. Thus, the article argues that while the Portuguese authorities considered the cultural expressions and identities of the white residents in Africa as peripheral, these perceived themselves as part of a new devolved center. This ‘peripheral centre’ gained particular ‘visibility’ on the airwaves.
Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 2022
Communication & Society, 2021
The article analyses the media system in Macao, a special administrative region of China that tra... more The article analyses the media system in Macao, a special administrative region of China that transitioned from Portuguese to Chinese sovereignty in 1999, becoming one of cities in the world with the largest number of published newspapers per capita. Combining historical research with the analysis of contemporary empirical data collected through interviews with journalists working on the ground, the research demonstrates how there is a long tradition of state control that goes back to the colonial era and that has assumed different forms, ranging from outright censorship to physical intimidation of journalists and economic dependence on the government. Limitations and control strategies imposed on news reporting during the Portuguese administration continue to be practiced today by the Chinese authorities. Even so, journalists operating on the Macao media market tend to overstate the level of freedom they are given, which can be attributed to media outlets being economically dependent on the state. Nevertheless, the level of freedom attributed to the press is today higher than it had been during the colonial period with some critical voices being allowed to reach the media. This needs to be understood in the context of what has been defined as the Chinese safety valve strategy.
When “Formerly” Becomes Now: Populism and the Media
Communication, Culture & Critique, 2020
One of the most challenging endeavors for scholars associated with the related fields of communic... more One of the most challenging endeavors for scholars associated with the related fields of communication and media studies is staying abreast of phenomena that are changing more quickly than they can be analyzed. Today’s volatile political environment, as it takes shape in multiple locations around the world, pushes the limits of what can be established reliably and productively as scholarly intervention.
Evidence abounds. Formerly stable democracies embrace strategies and tactics long thought to be allied with authoritarian regimes, while formerly marginalized populations take front stage to articulate long-suppressed experiences of abuse and repression. Formerly reliable institutions conduct themselves in an increasingly erratic and capricious fashion, at the same time as formerly hidden concerns now foster the powerful formation of new centers and sources of public sentiment. Such evidence more than attests to the pressing need for scholars to recognize that “formerly” is the new now.
Its recognition cannot come a moment too soon. Having hidden for too long behind mechanisms that repeatedly earn academic scholarship the labels of outdat- edness, isolation, inscrutability and a sense of general remove, we need to develop additional ways to address the stridencies of the moment. For a field that hinges much of its scholarly identity on the analysis of current issues, problems, events and personalities, this is a necessary beginning for jumpstarting our relevance as a field.
West – East Entanglements During the Cold War: Shortwave Broadcasting and Propaganda from and to Portugal
Media History, 2020
Portugal became the centre of an entangled airwaves ensemble during the Cold War. In order to dem... more Portugal became the centre of an entangled airwaves ensemble during the Cold War. In order to demonstrate this, the article develops along two lines. First, it details how the Portuguese dictatorship, with ideological connections to fascism, allowed the construction in its territory of one of the most powerful retransmitters of Radio Free Europe (RFE), responsible for airing anti-communist propaganda to Eastern Europe. The collaboration between the Portuguese dictator and the National Committee for Free Europe, mediated by US diplomatic officials, played an important role in the development of the operations of RFE in the country. Second, the article demonstrates how Portugal became the target of shortwave broadcasts operated from abroad, aimed at spreading pro-communist and anti-fascist sentiments in Portuguese society. Some of these stations were established by the political opposition that used the airwaves to undermine the dictatorship.
Observatório, 2017
Nos últimos anos, a produção de conteúdos para múltiplas plataformas passou a ser uma realidade ... more Nos últimos anos, a produção de conteúdos para múltiplas plataformas passou a ser uma realidade na maioria das redações, estabelecendo novos métodos e práticas de trabalho. No presente artigo, procura-se perceber como esta modernização está a ser operacionalizada nas redações de imprensa portuguesa, focando as alterações verificadas nas rotinas de produção e o modo como os jornalistas se adaptam a estas mesmas transformações. A investigação pretendeu compreender qual a perceção da comunidade jornalística sobre as mudanças em curso e o modo como estas estão a ser incorporadas no seu trabalho diário. Através da aplicação de um inquérito por questionário foram inquiridos diretores e editores da imprensa generalista e especializada de âmbito nacional e regional com o intuito de compreender o modo como estes avaliam as práticas de jornalismo convergente no interior das redações. Os resultados mostram que continua a existir uma maior valorização da edição impressa por comparação com as edições produzidas para suportes digitais. Porém, é já evidente o relevo de novas rotinas e práticas editoriais, bem como o encorajamento que é feito junto dos jornalistas para aderirem a novos hábitos relacionados com o jornalismo de convergência.
In the final phase of the Second World War, António Pedro became one of the most emblematic voice... more In the final phase of the Second World War, António Pedro became one of the most emblematic voices of the BBC's Portuguese Section, mainly due to his " Monday Chronicles " in which he presented his views on British society along with comments on military and geopolitical developments occurring at that time. He achieved a high level of popularity among listeners in Portugal during the almost two years he was a regular on the microphones, i.e. between January 1944 and October 1945. His chronicles were considered the most important programme of a political nature in the broadcasts to Portugal. Part of this success was due to Pedro himself, his style of writing and way of talking at the microphone, but it is also important to remember that broadcasts from London in Portuguese, which had begun in June 1939, achieved great success right from the start of the Second World War because they were the main source of information on the developments in the conflict. The number of BBC listeners increased even more after the opening of the Eastern Front, which coincided with a tightening of censorship in Portugal and the consequent omission of news in the national media about Russian military advances. This obviously generated greater interest in listening to foreign broadcasts, especially the Voice of London, the station that had the greatest impact in Portugal during the war. António Pedro joining the BBC marked a change in the editorial line of the Portuguese Section, and he contributed decisively to familiarising Portuguese listeners with words like " democracy ". It is however undeniable that the success of the broadcasts he made from London can only be truly understood in the context of the role played by the BBC in Portugal during the Second World War. The present article relies on document research conducted in archives located in Portugal and the UK. Due to the absence of recordings from the BBC Portuguese Service, the quotes from Pedro's " Monday Chronicles " , with the sole exception of the texts that were censored and that can be found at the BBC Written Archives, were taken from the manuscripts the author himself prepared for publication after the war and that are held at the Portuguese National Library.
Convergence Culture in European Newsrooms. Comparing editorial strategies for cross-media news production in six countries
For two decades, convergence culture has been an important motivator for change in journalism wor... more For two decades, convergence culture has been an important motivator for change in journalism worldwide. Journalism research has followed these developments, investigating the dimensions of change that define convergence as a cultural shift in the newsroom. Research in the European context has mostly been comprised of national case studies of flagship media outlets whereas comparative, let alone quantitative, studies are scarce. In response to these shortcomings, we present a comparative survey among newspaper journalists in managerial positions on convergence strategies in newsrooms from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, and Portugal.
Results show that there is still a dominant print culture present in newsrooms across Europe; however, a shift toward convergence journalism is evident in the strategic implementation of editorial routines and practices as well as in the encouragement of journalists to join convergence developments. Furthermore, newsrooms in Mediterranean countries are more advanced than those in North/Central Europe when it comes to embracing convergence culture because of a stronger audio-visual than print news tradition and a higher motivation among journalists. Our study reveals that after two decades of European convergence journalism, cultural change moves slowly but steadily toward a news production that makes use of the possibilities emerging from convergence.
BBC Portuguese Service during World War II: Praising Salazar while defending the Allies
This article analyses the editorial line of the BBC Portuguese Service during World War II, prese... more This article analyses the editorial line of the BBC Portuguese Service during World War II, presenting evidence of how the output of the broadcasts was influenced by the need of the Foreign Office to maintain a good relationship with the authoritarian regime led by Oliveira Salazar. Focusing on the internal guidelines that ruled the Service, this history demonstrates how Portuguese language broadcasts never threatened the survival of the regime that ruled in Portugal, despite the fact that towards the end of the war the station was used as a weapon to pressure Salazar to give in to British demands, namely to end exports of tungsten to Germany. A discussion is presented on the difficult task the Portuguese Service had to accomplish throughout the war: to praise a dictatorship while promoting British views on the war.
Critical Arts: South North Cultural and Media Studies, Dec 2014
This article discusses Portugal's broadcasting policy to its colonies from the 1930s to the 1960s... more This article discusses Portugal's broadcasting policy to its colonies from the 1930s to the 1960s when the country was ruled by a dictatorship led by Oliveira Salazar. It demonstrates that, despite the centrality assumed by the concept of ‘Empire’ in the discourse of the dictatorship, investments in shortwave broadcasting remained very low throughout the years. Not only was the Portuguese state broadcaster not given the resources to achieve good coverage of the African territories, but there was also no national policy concerning the creation of stations in the colonies. This, as the article demonstrates, led to the development of several private radio projects, mainly in Angola and Mozambique, operated as radio clubs. It would take until the mid-1950s, when the independence of African countries entered the international agenda, for the Portuguese dictatorship to start investing both in the state broadcaster's transmissions to Africa and in the creation of official stations in Angola, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. These late investments would ultimately not pay off because, starting in 1961, Portugal would be involved in the colonial war that started in Angola but quickly spread to other Portuguese territories.
Censorship and Scarcity: Controlling new and old media in Portugal, 1936-1945
Media History
This article presents a case study on how goods scarcity, both natural and artificially created, ... more This article presents a case study on how goods scarcity, both natural and artificially created, was used along with censorship to control the Portuguese public’s access to information during the 1930s and 1940s. Even though the dictatorship that ruled Portugal from 1933 relied on a censorship apparatus that prevented the publication and broadcast of many pieces of national and international news, the research presented in this article demonstrates how the regime took advantage of the Spanish Civil War and World War II to increase restrictions on the circulation of information, justifying this through the artificially created scarcity of paper and radio frequencies.
Furthermore, this article also describes how a third type of scarcity—that of electricity—also restricted listeners’ access to radio broadcasts, which led many Portuguese to make sacrifices in order to listen to updated news.
Medien & Zeit 26:3, 2011
The article demonstrates how Communication History developed in Portugal and Spain demonstrating ... more The article demonstrates how Communication History developed in Portugal and Spain demonstrating that, despite the fact both countries were ruled by dictatorships between the 1930s and the 1970s, the field of media studies in general received totally different treatment from the two authoritarian regimes. Moreover, it also demonstrates that after the implementation of democracy Communication History continued mostly on two different paths in the Iberian countries due to the distinct ways in which media studies were integrated in the academia. The different stages of development achieved by the field in the two countries are also explained. Nevertheless, despite all the differences, the author points out common themes that have been researched on both sides of the Iberian border and demonstrates that, despite media history being mostly dominated by nation-bound approaches, today there are common patterns on how it is produced in Portugal and Spain with clear similarities to the work also being carried out in other European countries.
Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture, 2012
This article describes the role of foreign radio propaganda in Portugal in the years that precede... more This article describes the role of foreign radio propaganda in Portugal in the years that preceded and the years during World War II. It demonstrates how the BBC became the most effective weapon to counterattack the German propaganda in the country and comments on the strategies used by the British in order to reach the Portuguese public. Among those strategies the most important was the promotion of the objectivity of the broadcasts from London, as opposed to the German transmissions that were known for airing mainly ‘toxic propaganda’. Evidence is also presented according to which news bulletins and talks broadcast by the BBC were perceived by the receivers as independent from political interference while the Axis transmissions were mostly considered as airing ‘toxic information’, demonstrating how during the war British white propaganda became very effective in regards to its impact on the Portuguese public.
New Global Flows of Capital in Media Industries after the 2008 Financial Crisis The Angola–Portugal Relationship
The article discusses the negative consequences of globalization in the new international arena t... more The article discusses the negative consequences of globalization in the new international arena that arose following the Great Recession of 2008 that enabled emerging economies such as China, Russia, and Angola to take center stage, reconfiguring power relations between Western and non-Western countries. As new global flows of capital in media industries have been emerging, it is relevant to consider how investors from autocratic political regimes with illiberal views on the media articulate with Western culture’s founding prerogatives of media and journalism. To do this, we singled out the Angola–Portugal relationship. Results show that the clientelistic dynamics in Portugal’s media system, enhanced by the economic crisis, facilitate the entrance of the Angolan capital, which, in turn, may perpetuate clientelism and drive the reversal of media democracy in the country.
Media, War & Conflict, Jan 2014
This article presents an analysis of the role of transborder broadcasts during the Spanish Civil ... more This article presents an analysis of the role of transborder broadcasts during the Spanish Civil War. As a new medium at that time, radio had a strong impact not only on increasing the morale of the Franquist forces, but also on influencing military operations through the dissemination of strategic information concerning the progress of military operations. Mostly focusing on the role of Portuguese broadcasters, which clearly took the lead in supporting Franco during the first year of his revolt against the Spanish Republic, the author discusses the strategies used by the Lisbon dictatorship to support the Nationalists through radio despite never abandoning its official neutral position in the war. Finally, the article discusses how radio propaganda during the Spanish Civil War was used as a testing ground for its use in World War II.
CM : Communication Management Quarterly : Časopis za upravljanje komuniciranjem , 2014
This article presents a case of political participation through radio broadcasting during World W... more This article presents a case of political participation through radio broadcasting during World War II. Focusing on how the Portuguese listeners interacted with the transborder broadcasts from the BBC, it demonstrates how politically engaged citizens struggled to use a foreign station to disseminate their views on the country’s po- litical situation. Grounded on Pateman’s (1970) and Carpentier’s (2011) definitions of different levels of participation, it demonstrates that listeners were not given the ability to achieve full or maximal participation due to limitations imposed by organizational and political structures. Departing from this case, the article also reflects on how audi- ences interact with “traditional media”, questioning the widespread idea of radio listen- ers as passive agents and suggesting that an understanding of the political and social contexts in which media participation takes place is essential to ascertain the levels of empowerment given to the audiences.
Political interference on the airwaves: the BBC broadcasts to Portugal during the Second World War
Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 7:2, 2010
The article analyses the impact of foreign broadcasts in Portugal during the Second World War as ... more The article analyses the impact of foreign broadcasts in Portugal during the Second World War as well as the communication strategies adopted by both German and British transmissions in the Portuguese language. After demonstrating that the broadcasts from the Axis powers were mainly composed of blatant propaganda, particular attention is given to the BBC. The British station, which was the most effective in reaching the Portuguese public, promoted itself as a credible source that offered reliable and unbiased news despite the fact that, as the article demonstrates, it trimmed its output to meet considerations imposed by the Foreign Office
A new medium at war: The importance of foreign radio reports in Portugal during World War II
Journalism Studies, 11: 2, Sep 2010
This article presents a case study on the limits of the BBC Overseas Service’s journalistic indep... more This article presents a case study on the limits of the BBC Overseas Service’s journalistic independence during World War II. Not only editorial policy but also the personnel hired by the BBC Portuguese Service were subject to pressure from Salazar through the Foreign Office. How the Lisbon government was made aware of the events taking place inside the Portuguese Service and which strategies were used to interfere in its editorial line are discussed. This history presents clear evidence of how the BBC was required to trim its output in order to avoid diplomatic problems arising between the British and the Portuguese governments.
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Journal papers by Nelson Ribeiro
Evidence abounds. Formerly stable democracies embrace strategies and tactics long thought to be allied with authoritarian regimes, while formerly marginalized populations take front stage to articulate long-suppressed experiences of abuse and repression. Formerly reliable institutions conduct themselves in an increasingly erratic and capricious fashion, at the same time as formerly hidden concerns now foster the powerful formation of new centers and sources of public sentiment. Such evidence more than attests to the pressing need for scholars to recognize that “formerly” is the new now.
Its recognition cannot come a moment too soon. Having hidden for too long behind mechanisms that repeatedly earn academic scholarship the labels of outdat- edness, isolation, inscrutability and a sense of general remove, we need to develop additional ways to address the stridencies of the moment. For a field that hinges much of its scholarly identity on the analysis of current issues, problems, events and personalities, this is a necessary beginning for jumpstarting our relevance as a field.
Results show that there is still a dominant print culture present in newsrooms across Europe; however, a shift toward convergence journalism is evident in the strategic implementation of editorial routines and practices as well as in the encouragement of journalists to join convergence developments. Furthermore, newsrooms in Mediterranean countries are more advanced than those in North/Central Europe when it comes to embracing convergence culture because of a stronger audio-visual than print news tradition and a higher motivation among journalists. Our study reveals that after two decades of European convergence journalism, cultural change moves slowly but steadily toward a news production that makes use of the possibilities emerging from convergence.
Furthermore, this article also describes how a third type of scarcity—that of electricity—also restricted listeners’ access to radio broadcasts, which led many Portuguese to make sacrifices in order to listen to updated news.