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The Cadre, January 27, 1976, page 6

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Maia; l'isbonf-N

LISBON (CUP)---- One of the major casualties of Portug— al's recent sharp turn to the right is the workers' controlled newspaper Repub— lica.

The Lisbon daily stopped publishing December 23 when its military-appointed dir— ector resigned. The resig— nation left Republica in legal—limbo, because all" Portuguese newspapers must' have a director appointed by management.

When Republica workers took control'in July, Po— rtugal's military authorit— ies agreed to appoint a fi— gurehead director, despite the objections of the pap- er's Socialist Party (PS)- oriented owners. With key leftists now removed form the military leadership,the authorities refuse to app— oint a new director, decl— aring the matter a labour— management dispute. \

The owners refuse to tal

‘ to the workers.

(Portugal's political—

military situation changed dramatically November 25 in what now appears a well-ex- ecuted coup by right—wing and centrist military lead— ers. Imposing a news blac— kout in Lisbon region, they ended a paratroop rebellion and moved conservative tro- 0ps to the capital city to disarm local regiments—who hadn't joined the rebellion - but who had been actively assisting workers and poor people's movements for many months.)

Western Press

Distortsfacts

Republica gained notbr- iety throughout North Ame- rical and western Europe last spring through an in— ternational press campaign that distorted the facts of the workers' struggle bey- ond belief. _

Press agency reporters, accepting the interpretat- ion of the paper's owners without question, portrayed the workers' fight for a non—partisan daily as a C0— mmunist Party attempt to seize the paper. The 'pro— fessional' media used the Republica case as a signi— ficant example of how "Co- mmunists" were allegedly imposing a new dictator— ship on the Portuguese pe- ople.‘

~lution.

But since July, Republica workers were publishing a paper frequently hostile to the Communist Party — atte- mpting to present news and analysis "at the service of the working class and the rest of the exploited clas— ses”'- without promoting any political party, accor- ding to their editorial st— atutes.

The paper emphasized news from grass roots popu— lar organizations- workers' commission, residents' com— missions, peasants' organi— zations, soldiers' groups. The journalism had been me— diocre at times — especial— ly in earlier iSSues, buy was courageous and inform— ative, describing efforts of common people to better their lives and build a new society.

~Major decisions in Repu— blica were made by the wo- rkers' commission, elected by the workers and subject to immediate recall. Comp— osing room staff and type— setters — who led the stru— ggle against the owners - established a three—member political commissidn with authority to approve all‘ significant political sta— tements in the paper.

Newsroom staff were div— ided into subject areas, each with a co—ordinator elected by the workers.

_All the co—ordinators met

each morning to plan the first and last pages, pro— duced by a general co—ord— inator.

Before the fall of fasc- ism here in April 1974 Rep- ublica was the voice of re— strained opposition to the regime. Soon afterwards, publisher Raul Rego began

openly favoring the Social— ist Party in editorials, and in the choice and placement of news stories.

Republica's printing wo— rker's didn't approve.

In October 1974 they he— ld their first large plenary contesting the ideological line of the paper. 'They'de— manded an independent, non— partisan paper at the serv— ice of the portuguese revo— The Socialists' em— phasis on western European style electoral democracy didn't impress the workers, who wanted changed economic' relationships and a.more deeply—rooted democracy than merely voting every four years in the new Portugal.

But with the PS gearing

e wspap er m Attempts Experiment ln-Workers’ Control

-position.

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up for its long battle ag- ainst the COmmunist Party and other leftist organiza— tions, Republica's publish— ers were in no mood for co— mpromise. '

Journalists 0th Over Editorial Stand

Some 14 journalists quit the paper last winter, pro— testing its partisan approa— ch. '

All these facts were ig- nored by the international press in its hysterical ca— mpaign against Republicais workers.’ (In a well—docu— mented academic study, Yk\ Swedish journalism student shows how the newspapers in his country systematically accepted Rego's claims and ignored the worker's side. The Swedish press was ech- oing the behavior of news media in North Americal and the rest of northern Europe.)

Matters came to head when Rego tried to fire an admin— istrative worker for his op4 The printing wor-' kers petitioned against the dismissal, and on May 2 they. prepared an issue of Republe iga_themsélves. But Rego. refused to authorize it. Because the mailers and cl- erical staff were not yet co— mmitted to the fight, the printers couldn't put it out.

But by May 19 the mailers and clerical staff were be—

hind the printers. They again tried to publish On their own.

Thousands of PS demons— traters surrounded §£pgblif ca's building, throwing st- ones and threatening the w0r rkers. COPCON, the now-ext- .inct military security force, had to rescue them at 6am, and few copies were distri- buted.

COPCON ordered the paper' closed. .

The PS demanded the mili- tary guarantee Regd's conti- nued control. The party th— reatened to leave the gover— nment — at that time domina— ted by leftist military fig— ures and the Communist Party - if it didn't agree. 1

But by July 10 Republica' workers had formed solid links with other workers' organiz- ations, and declared.their intention to publish again. The government sided with Rego, but faced with wide— . spread popular support for V the workers, COPCON soldiers

‘a Swedish journali how the newspam systematically ac claims and ignore

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