Portugal's Francisco Pinto Balsemão -- "Liberdade para Pensar" -- Dies at 88

Francisco Pinto Balsemão with stacks of sections of the weekly, Expresso, which he founded in 1973. (Photo by Alberto Frias)

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When I heard the news of the death of Francisco Pinto Balsemão, I was having breakfast today while listening to RTP Antena 2 on the radio.

He died on October 21 at age 88.

Such sad news.

I never met Francisco Pinto Balsemão. However, I feel that the journalist comes into my home every Friday with the latest edition of his Expresso. As an immigrant plopped down in a society, where I find that its history, politics and culture can seem veiled, almost secretive, journalism was my grateful introduction to the man.

Expresso was first published in January 1973, 15 months before the Carnation Revolution overthrew nearly 50 years of authoritarian rule in Portugal. Pinto Balsemão began the newspaper under the dictatorship which practiced censorship. However, it was at Diário Popular (1963-71), where his father and uncle were the main shareholders, that he "learned the intricacies of journalism and media management", reported Expresso (February 24, 2023).

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Censors often used blue pencil to cut or edit stories before publication. "The censors turned newspaper readers into detectives of the word, waiting to see things that weren't there but should be there," said journalist Fernando Paulouro, who worked at Jornal do Fundão as a student during the Estado Novo regime, and later would become its editor-in-chief and director, reported Sul Informaçao (April 23, 2024).

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"As he recounts, 'on a daily basis, what fueled and developed my political development was the censorship I encountered and began to face daily at Diário Popular', a newspaper where he would join a high-quality but disorganized editorial team, staffed by journalists who 'slept little', as their extremely low salaries forced them to do double-duty at other publications.

"Balsemão brought other ideas: creating a network of foreign correspondents, acquiring telex machines (through which news agencies and reporters' prose could be received abroad), and creating a literary supplement coordinated by Jacinto Baptista ("The journalist is the everyday historian."), which dared to undertake in-depth work on the painter Vieira da Silva, banned by the regime, and which included (writers) Agustina (Bessa-Luís), Ruben A. (Alfredo Andresen Leitão), Alexandre O'Neill and others."

Eventually, I learned that he also had founded Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC), Portugal's first private television channel, in 1992, the significance of which is difficult to imagine today. I realized that he also had established SIC Notícias, the country's first television news channel, in 2001.

His connection to journalism began when, after being assigned to the Air Force to complete his military service, he took on the role as editor-in-chief of Mais Alto, the magazine of the Portuguese Air Force, reported SIC Notícias (October 22).

Truly, it was some time before I learned that he had been Prime Minister (1981-1983) and that he had been one of the founders of PSD (Partido Social Democrata), now the governing party.

A phrase often used in connection with Expresso is Liberdade para pensar (Freedom to think).

I am thankful for the journalist's dedication and contribution to Portugal's freedom of the press and democracy.

A flood of homages have been pouring in from journalists, politicians of every stripe and so many who worked with or were affected by him. One called him "a man of quality".

He has left behind a legacy.

The government has declared two days of national mourning.