The Regional Secretary for the Presidency, André Bradford, conveyed on behalf of the President of the Government his surprise at the exclusion of a representative of the self-government bodies of the Region from the Working Group that will be in charge of evaluating and defining the concept of public service media, whose composition has been made public.

In this context, the Regional Secretary for the Presidency sent a letter to the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Miguel Relvas, on August 4, in which he demanded the inclusion of “at least one element to be appointed by the self-government bodies of the Azores” in addition to emphasising to the role of “public radio and television service as well as of the activities developed by the Azores Regional Centre in the promotion of regional and territorial cohesion, pluralism and diversity of opinions.

In the same letter, which was never replied to, the government official drew the attention to the fact that the action to be taken by the Working Group, which “focuses on the definition of the model and characteristics of public radio and television service,” will have its impact on RTP-Açores, its staff, facilities and technical means.

According to André Bradford, “the Regional Government’s proposal aimed to ensure the presence of an element who, providing a qualified contribution to the works developed by the Group, would discuss and safeguard the specific problems and needs of public radio and television service in the Region.”

The Secretary of the Presidency said that “the Region will continue to demand the hearing and defence of its interests either in the context of the work to be carried out by this Group over the next 60 days or in the context of the cost containment plan designed for RTP. In addition, the audiences with the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and the Chairmen of the Administration Board of RTP have already been requested in due time.”