Die portugiesischsprachige Presse in Macau: Ein Bericht über den Stand Ende 1991

Abstract

The Chinese form the largest population group in modern Macau, Portugal’s last outpost in the Far East, but the local Portuguese who run the territory’s administration and hold important positions in Macau’s public life, have maintained many of their own cultural and political traditions. The presence of Portuguese language media in Macau, in particular the press, forms part of this unique tradition. The first newspaper printed in Macau was the Abelha da China and ever since it came out between 1822 and 1823, numerous other papers appeared, some of which were published over longer periods while others only survived for a few months or years. Portuguese-language papers in Macau nearly always echoed different political ideas and opinions. They often followed liberal traditions and reflected both local and international events. This is also the case in present-day Macau where financial support from the government, favorable laws that guarantee press freedom, and other factors have contributed to an extraordinary growth in the recent output of these papers and to an improvement in the quality of their information. In a sense, the current development of the Portuguese press, backed by different political and other interest groups, mirrors the dynamic economic growth of the territory. In spite of current trends, it is unlikely that the Portuguese press will be able to maintain its present position after 1999; the Portuguese-speaking population is expected to decline after "the transition period"; the number of Chinese fluent in Portuguese is still very small and it is doubtful whether there will be a large demand for Portuguese-language papers in the long run. Apart from giving a general survey of current trends, the present study also contains a descriptive and critically annotated catalogue of all Macau newspapers and periodicals published in Portuguese (at the end of 1991) and predominantly reporting on local or international events of public interest. Periodicals exclusively dedicated to special fields, newsletters, government statistics, and academic journals are not included in this list. The catalogue briefly describes the history and contents of the following periodicals: Boletim Oficial de Macau, Boletim Eclesial, Macau, Revista de Cultura, Administração, O Clarim, Tribuna de Macau, Comércio de Macau, Macau Sport, Gazeta Macaense, Jomal de Macau, and Macau Hoje.