The PSD/Madeira’s communications office announced today via press release that their meeting with Martim Santos follows public reports about potential operational and structural changes in the functioning of the Regional Center of RTP/M.
On Friday, Diário de Notícias da Madeira reported that the control of the regional RTP broadcast has been managed from Lisbon since Thursday, according to PS deputy to the Assembly of the Republic Carlos Pereira, who has requested clarifications from the Minister of the Presidency, Leitão Amaro.
The Social Democrats seek to obtain “clarifications on the current situation and any ongoing plans by the administration, while also understanding the concrete impacts on this center’s operational, technical, and editorial capabilities and assessing if essential principles such as autonomy, regional identity, and the public service mission are at risk.”
“Only with factual information obtained locally will it be possible to gauge the real scope of the situation and consider whether it is necessary to adopt parliamentary initiatives with the RTP administration and the Government of the Republic to safeguard what is essential,” they state.
The PS/Madeira deputy to the Assembly of the Republic, Sofia Canha, also requested a meeting with Martim Santos on Friday to address this issue and notes in a statement that, according to her contacts with people in the field, “the issue is fundamentally a technical one related to a lack of human resources at the regional station.”
JPP deputy Filipe Sousa likewise indicated he will request a meeting with the board of directors and the information directorate of RTP to understand what “changes have been made regarding administrative, financial, and informational autonomy in the RTP/Madeira Regional Center.”
The potential loss of autonomy for RTP/Madeira is a major concern for various parties.
Additionally, PSD deputies in the regional parliament filed a parliamentary hearing request on Friday, “with urgency,” to hear from the chairman of the board of directors of RTP, Nicolau Santos, and the director of the Madeira Regional Center, Martim Santos.
