Opinion.
We are "like journalists" and not journalists with full rights - only with full duties. In any case, on March 14 we won't be publishing anything in Shifter or LPP, and we add our silence to that of the others who, due to the seriousness of their absence, are trying to make their demands heard.
On Shifter/LPP we never hide where we come from. We created the project out of love for what we do, before we had a name for it. Since day one, we've been motivated by the idea of translating the big contemporary issues into the Portuguese public space, with a special focus on technology, and the desire to do so has always been stronger than anything else. Over time we have felt the need to assume professional titles, but there has been a long resistance to calling ourselves journalists. For years, we refused to do it. Not because we thought our work was lesser, less rigorous or less ethical, but because we knew that the regulation of the profession in Portugal means that this title is restricted by a bureaucratic framework. This has never stopped us from doing what we do, nor from striving to be better every day in complying with the rules, processes and precepts that govern an ethical media outlet. Our commitment is not to any bureaucratic designation but to a social relationship with those who read us every day. It is also in this relationship that we have inspired this leap of faith.
Not long ago (I can't say how long ago, but that says a lot about how important this transition was for us) we decided to put aside our resistance and say out loud that we are journalists. On paper, nothing has changed, since the beginning of the project we have been registered with regulatory bodies, and the positions we hold oblige us to comply with legal regulations. On paper, the management team of the Shifter/LPP she is 'treated as a journalist', essentially because she has to be. And in view of the crisis in the sector, taking on the title was for us a gesture of closeness to the cause. Of solidarity. An assumption that we see what we do as part of the larger and more complex network that is a country's media, and that we don't want to shirk responsibility by deviating from the designations. To take on the role of journalist, just like that, was to combine our strength with that of those who believe deeply in journalism and in the need to join forces to keep it alive, close to people and inspiring.
We're not joking here. We have dedicated our lives to this profession. And if we're still doing what we're doing after 10 years, it's at the cost of many personal sacrifices - we've never hidden it, but we've never stressed it either. It was selflessness that brought the project this far. We've never had institutional mentions, awards, been noticed by the President of the Republic, or met with Secretaries of State. We're terrible at managing our position politically. Because that's simply not what drives us. We want to do journalism, or whatever you want to call it; to respect the rules, yes, but also to have freedom. That's why, at this time of strike action, our note of solidarity couldn't begin in a different way. If we feel like journalists, it was communicated by one of the sector's regulatory bodies that we are not entitled to this title. And so, while we feel we have to join this strike to highlight the precarious state of the sector in Portugal, we also feel that this strike is not for us. After all, we are 'equal journalists' and not journalists with full rights - only with full duties.
In any case, on March 14th we won't be publishing anything in the Shifter nor in LPPWe join our silence to that of the others who, due to the seriousness of their absence, are trying to make their demands heard. We're not doing this to put pressure on our bosses, because we don't have any, but to show, once again, that if we've been here for so long and with such persistence, it's because we want to be part of the solution, not bring more problems. At a politically troubled time, when the media is constantly under attack for its reputation, professionals are in extremely precarious situations, and there is a lack of political initiative to help the sector, all solidarity is insufficient given the size of the challenges we face.
If at the last Journalists' Congress a motion was passed that, among other proposals, suggested the end of the Journalist Registration Card (and the need for specific training to enter the profession), which pushes professionals like us into a bureaucratic vagueness that only exacerbates the precarious situation in which I exercise this profession, our commitment to the practice and the sector is non-negotiable. For our comrades, for our readers, for our future, we are joining this moment of demand. If you don't want to call it a strike, call it a 'strike-like' strike, but the moment is too important to waste time on bureaucratic divisions.
Because journalism in Portugal needs more political and social attention, its plurality needs to be valued, and the conditions for professionals need to be strengthened so that they can do better (and not more). Because we believe that it is not a bureaucratic distinction that should make the difference, at a time when borders are blurring and readers don't recognize them, and that journalism can be stronger if it is more inclusive and embraces those who join it for good, and because we believe that the whole sector gains from those who come from outside to bring new perspectives, knowledge and experiences, we add a line to the note of demands: let's focus our forces on re-establishing unity with the reader and not on creating yet more division in the critical mass of journalists so weakened by everything else.
