Portuguese news group in crisis with many redundancies

A journalists’ union in Portugal has asked the Portuguese State Procurator’s Office (PGR) to step in and investigate alleged illegal acts as part of an overall financial crisis engulfing one of the country’s main media groups, Global Media.

The Union of Journalists (SJ) believes that there is evidence of possible criminal proceedings that should be investigated at the group that owns the tiles Jornal de Notícias, Diário de Notícias, TSF radio, and the football paper Jogo.
The union will deliver today (Friday) an investigation request to the Portuguese State procurator’s office (PGR) to look into situations related to the Global Media Group that is currently instigating a process of mass editorial redundancies that will continue until January 10.
In a communiqué the SJ says that it considers that there “exist indications of a criminal nature that warrant investigation”.
These include suspicions of “fraud” and “mismanagement” as well as “proceedings on the limit of the law”.
On Tuesday, Global Media Group’s Executive Commission led by José Paulo Fafe accused the other shareholders of pursuing acts of an “ethically and morally reprehensible nature” that had contributed to the company’s current situation.
In an internal newsletter the management says that “over the past three months since the Executive Commission (was voted in) and began its functions, rare is the day that it is not caught by surprise by facts and procedures from this group over the years that without a doubt blur the lines between what some may consider management that is somewhat opaque and irresponsible.”
On December 6, in an internal communiqué, GMC’s Executive Commission said that it would announce urgent negotiations for the redundancy of between 150 and 200 staff and advance with a restructuring plan that was necessary to avoid the group’s financial collapse.