Africa-Press – Cape verde. Inforpress’s information director, Maria de Jesus Barros, resigned from her position for allegedly suffering interference in the editorial affairs by the sole administrator, José Vaz Furtado. The latter denies the alleged interference and says that what he did was, as an administrator, to make suggestions for improvements.
Contacted by A NAÇÃO, Maria de Jesus Barros, sworn in in December 2021, confirmed the information, and said it was a normal management situation.
“Since I took office, I have faced a few situations, including an attempt by the administrator to make the information director a little thing and interfere in the affairs of the newsroom. We clashed, he was always keen to demonstrate that he was in charge, and I saw that, perhaps, there is no need for him to have an information director”, explained Maria de Jesus Barros.
Also, in a letter addressed to colleagues, Maria de Jesus Barros says that, first, the administrator “tried to impose an editor-in-chief who was prevented by law from exercising the position”, despite his warnings, in addition to refusing to tell him the name of the company’s lawyer, before a court case, with the arguments that this matter should be dealt with at the highest level.
Second, he says, the administrator even nominated journalists for work and met with the multimedia staff and editors, without any prior consultation with the Director of Information, to teach photography and journalism classes, in an “arrogant” attitude. , and knowing that one of the Information Director’s functions is to act as an intermediary between the newsroom and the administration.
“Furthermore, he had been taking measures that had to do directly with the newsroom, such as authorizing the journalist on vacation, changing the drivers’ schedule and not communicating to the Information Director”, he explained.
Barros also accuses the sole administrator of having said that he did not need his opinions, suggestions and ideas “because they are worthless to him, and because he makes his decisions in consultation with the Secretary of State and Deputy Prime Minister, who holds the guardianship, giving the idea that he did not need the Information department or any other intermediate manager to manage Inforpress”.
false claims
Inforpress’s sole administrator, José Vaz Furtado, in turn, says that the allegations are false.
“They are a set of false accusations. I never interfered with the work of journalists. What I did was, as an administrator, come up with suggestions for improvements, because I also have responsibilities,” she claimed.
José Vaz Furtado says that his suggestions were from a constructive perspective, with the aim of improving the writing, and never interfering in the management’s valences.
“She had complete freedom, so much so that she did and undoes in the newsroom, without fixing it with the administration”, he accuses, adding that yesterday, in a meeting they had, the director “extrapolated” and had no alternative but to accept the resignation request, made since the 17th of January.
“It is an act of management. This is normal and there is nothing more to it”, he minimizes.
It should be remembered that Maria de Jesus Barros took over as director of information since November 22, as an interim, and was appointed on December 9.
Journalist Hélio Robalo is now the interim director of the news agency.
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