Reporting an Alternative Reality to ‘Conveniently Guide’ Public Opinion

Abstract

During World War II the Portuguese press was under strict control of the dictatorship regime that ruled in the country. While censorship was given the task of preventing many news pieces from reaching the public, newspapers were also forced to give visibility to all propaganda events organized by the regime. In many cases this meant relegating crucial news on the war to the interior pages while the front pages were reserved for national stories. The article combines document research with an analysis of the front pages of the two major Portuguese daily newspapers from the outbreak of the war until the capitulation of France. It demonstrates how the censorship apparatus played a role that went way beyond deciding what could and could not be published by ensuring that the press would report an alternative reality that was created by the regime’s propaganda which aimed to ‘conveniently guide’ public opinion.

KEYWORDS:

• censorship
• press
• propaganda
• alternative facts
• Estado Novo
• Centenary Celebrations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Almeida and Pinto, “Portuguese Ministers, 1851–1999,” 11.

2 Ibid., 39.

3 Matos, Salazar. A Construção do Mito.

4 Cruz, O Partido e o Estado; Léonard, Salazarismo e Fascismo; Pinto, O Salazarismo e o Fascismo Europeu; Torgal, Estados Novos, Estado Novo.

5 Ribeiro, Salazar e a BBC.

6 Rosas, “O Estado Novo,” 243.

7 Cruz, O Partido e o Estado no Salazarismo, 102–5.

8 Caetano, História Breve das Constituições Portuguesas, 131.

9 Delgado, Portugal e a Guerra Civil de Espanha, 49; Rezola, “O Estado Novo e o Apoio à Causa,” 42.

10 Pena-Rodriguez, “A Guerra de Propaganda de Salazar”; Pena-Rodriguez, “Sintonía de Combate”; Ribeiro, “Using a New Medium for Propaganda.”

11 Nunes, O Estado Novo e o Volfrâmio.

12 Constitution of 11 April 1933, Article 20.

13 Decree-law 22469, 11 April 1933.

14 António, Cinema e Censura em Portugal; Cabrera, Censura nunca Mais; Gomes, Os Militares e a Censura; Piçarra, Azuis Ultramarinos; Santos, O Espetáculo Desvirtuado.

15 Ribeiro, A Polícia Política no Estado Novo.

16 Pena Rodríguez, «Tudo Pela Nação, Nada Contra A Nação.»

17 Azevedo, A Censura de Salazar e Marcelo Caetano; Forte, A Censura de Salazar no Diário de Notícias; Carvalho, A Censura e as Leis de Imprensa; Franco, A Censura à Imprensa.

18 Lima, “Meios de Censura e Formas de Condicionamento.”

19 Gomes, “Os Censores do 25 de Abril”; Gomes, Os Militares e a Censura.

20 Lima, “Meios de Censura e Formas de Condicionamento,” 109.

21 Decree Law 22.756, 29 June 1933.

22 Pena Rodriguéz, «Tudo Pela Nação, Nada Contra A Nação,» 189.

23 Gomes, Os Militares e a Censura.

24 Decree-Law 26.589, 14 May 1936.

25 Ribeiro, “Censorship and Scarcity.”

26 Salazar in Ferro, Homens e Multidões, 227, 229.

27 Keane, The Media and Democracy; Rivers and Schramm, Responsibility in Mass Communication.

28 Carvalho, A Censura e as Leis de Imprensa; Franco, A Censura à Imprensa; Gomes, Os Militares e a Censura.

29 Carvalho, A Censura e as Leis de Imprensa.

30 Gomes, Os Militares e a Censura, 150.

31 Major Álvaro Salvação Barreto, “Boletim Diário dos Serviços de Censura,” 19 May 1942, in Interior Minister Archive, Folder 525.

32 See note 30.

33 Oliveira, “A Guerra Vista Através da Imprensa.”

34 Michael Winch, “Report on Conditions in Portugal with Special Reference to Broadcast Propaganda,” January 1943, in the National Archives, FO 371/34691.

35 Veríssimo, Os Jornalistas nos Anos 30/40, 101.

36 Ribeiro, “Censorship and Scarcity.”

37 Barros, O Fenómeno de Opinião em Portugal; Cabrera, Marcelo Caetano: Poder e Imprensa.

38 Cabrera, Marcelo Caetano: Poder e Imprensa.

39 Interior Minister Archive, Folder 525, 6 May 1942, quoted by Barros, O Fenómeno da Opinião Pública, 166.

40 “A Polícia procederá energicamente contra os açambarcadores,” Diário de Notícias, 9 September 1939.

41 “Um País de Conto de Fadas,” Diário de Notícias, 19 September 1939.

42 “As Nossas Romarias,” Diário de Notícias, 11 September 1939.

43 “Many Thousands of People … ,” Diário de Notícias, 13 September 1939.

44 “A Viagem Presidencial,” O Século, 12 September 1939.

45 “O Chefe do Estado,” O Século, 24 November 1939.

46 “O Aniversário do Chefe do Estado,” Diário de Notícias, 25 November 1940.

47 “O 3° Aniversário da Gerência do sr. dr. Oliveira Salazar na pasta dos Negócios Estrangeiros,” Diário de Notícias, 7 November 1939.

48 “A Posição de Portugal no Actual Conflito … ,” O Século, 27 February 1940.

49 “Os “Lusitanos” de Portugal Consagram o seu dia a Salazar,” Diário de Notícias, 30 April 1940.

50 “Salazar o Homem que foi Indispensável a Portugal,” Diário de Notícias, 1 November 1939.

51 “A Obra Financeira do sr. dr. Oliveira Salazar enaltecida no Rio de Janeiro,” O Século, 19 April 1940.

52 Report by Rogério Cardoso (Assistant to the Press Attaché) on his conversation with the Censor Major Álvaro Barreto, 29 March 1940, in the National Archives, FO 371/24494.

53 Major Álvaro Barreto, “Circular n° 211,” 6 May 1942, in Interior Minister Archive, Folder 525.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nelson Ribeiro

Nelson Ribeiro, Faculty of Human Sciences, Catholic University of Portugal, Palma de Cima, Lisbon 1649-023, Portugal. ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4724-550X