Whose is the agenda? Contents, practices and values in Portuguese regional newspapers

This article shows results from the project ‘Citizens’ agenda: Journalism and civic participation in Portuguese media’, involving research on a sample of regional newspapers geographically distributed throughout the country. Through content analysis of sources, topics and framing, we sketch the general picture painted by the regional press. Drawing on enquiries to journalists and directors we also aim to understand which professional practices and values are prominent in regional press, paying special attention to questions linking journalism to democratic systems. Results indicate that recent trends of professionalization and commercialization prompted Portuguese local press towards the liberal model, which means growing autonomy from the state and politics, but also includes disengagement from civic pursuits of “general interest”.