The bishop of the Diocese of Setúbal has paid tribute to Francisco Pinto Balsemão, highlighting his significant contributions to the development of democracy, particularly through the newspaper Expresso and the television channel SIC. These media outlets belong to the Impresa Group, which Balsemão founded and presided over.
Américo Aguiar personally thanked Pinto Balsemão for his welcome at the Private Media Platform (PMP) since 2015, where the bishop participated as a representative of the Renascença Multimédia Group.
“Personally, I thank him for his fraternal welcome at the Private Media Platform since 2015,” stated Cardinal Aguiar, who served as president of the Renascença Multimédia Group between 2016 and the end of 2023.
The Private Media Platform (PMP) is a non-profit organization representing the country’s main private media groups, including Cofina, Global Media, Impresa, Media Capital, Público, and Renascença Multimédia. Its mission is to defend press freedom and promote initiatives related to the communication industry.
Francisco Pinto Balsemão, a former leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), ex-prime minister, and founder of Expresso and SIC, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 88.
The news of the death of PSD’s number one member was conveyed by the party’s president and prime minister, Luís Montenegro, during a national council meeting in Lisbon.
Balsemão founded the weekly Expresso in 1973, during the dictatorship, and SIC, Portugal’s first private television station, in 1992, as well as the Impresa media group.
In 1974, following the April 25th revolution, he co-founded the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), later the Social Democratic Party (PSD), with Francisco Sá Carneiro and Magalhães Mota. He led two governments after Sá Carneiro’s death, from 1981 to 1983, and remained a member of the Council of State, an advisory body to the President of the Republic, until now.
