Portuguese Parliamentary Journalism: A Review of a Journalistic Subspecialization

Abstract

The Portuguese parliament enjoys transparency and scrutiny that is virtually unprecedented in Europe. This factor is based, on the one hand, on the strong media coverage of parliamentary activity by the Assembleia da República’s own television and online channels and, on the other hand, in the robust journalistic coverage of the parliament's political action, largely due to the freedom of movement of journalists in the building of this sovereign body: "a unique case study" (Neves, 2012). Parliamentary journalism is thus configured as a sub-specialization framed in political journalism that maintains its identity and richness in the permanent and intensive coverage of parliamentary activity. In this article, which we take on as an essay, we seek  to better understand this journalistic sub specialization so characteristic of the national context through a literature review that is limited to understanding the field of action of this journalistic practice, the Assembleia da República, the relationship between journalism, politics and democracy, but fundamentally the specificities and characteristics of Portuguese parliamentary journalism using studies developed in the Portuguese Academy.