Speech of the President of the Républic at the 50th anniversary of RTP
Lisbon, March 7, 2007
Honourable Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
Honourable Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Dom José Policarpo
Honourable President of Radio and Television of Portugal
«Good Evening» to you all. Throughout fifty years we heard RTP wishing us all “Good Evening”. It is impressive to look back and see, when recalling those days, that much of what we remember are images we saw on television.
RTP brought us many events that branded the second half of the XX century and these first years of the XXI century. Facing the small screen we were thrilled with man’s landing on the Moon, with the 25th April and the broadcasts next to the Carmo Barracks or, more recently, with the fall of the Berlin Wall or the tragic terrorist bombings on September 11, 2001.
In the minds of the Portuguese, those who made the history of television are house guests, with whom we used to congregate as if they were friends or members of the family. «If I can well remember», should it be appropriate to use the title of Vitorino Nemésio’s programme, I recall, to mention only a few names, Fernando Pessa, engineer Sousa Veloso, Artur Agostinho, Alice Cruz, Maria Leonor, Henrique Mendes and so many others.
RTP is and will remain with the Portuguese in both the good and the bad times. RTP shows them the World and shows them Portugal. With RTP, everything became smaller and nearer to us. Television brought us nearer to each other, sharing information, entertainment and leisure. With RTP we often watched the Portuguese comedies of olden days, we saw televised series without missing a single episode, we watched debates that helped us to form our opinions, we were emotionally affected by the Portuguese which took part in international competitions, soccer championships, song contests and also in the Olympic Games.
But RTP is not only a memory. In this institution the past is the promise of the future and of the continuous opening to modern innovation. On opening today its new Production Centre, RTP proves that, although it has reached middle age, it continues alert to the signs of the times and as young and active as in the first moments of its existence.
This is a time for partying and commemoration. However, in any institution, fifty years of age are equally a pretext to face the future. The power that this communication media holds with the people is a phenomenon which must provide motivation and bring responsibility to the persons involved. On the other hand, the rendering of a public service in television is a task which obliges those that work in RTP to have special demands in exactitude, impartiality and quality of programming. And the competition with the private operators, within a framework of healthy plurality, must equally constitute a stimulus for RTP to continue in its path to modernity.
I thus wish to salute RTP and all those that work here. Their dedication and exertion were the cause of RTP being what it was throughout its 50 years of existence. And, since this is an anniversary, I believe it can all be summarized in two words: congratulations RTP.
For this reason, it is with great pleasure that, within my official capacities as Grand Master of the Portuguese Honourable Orders, I decided to confer on RTP, Radio and Television of Portugal, the title of Honorary Member of the Order of Infante D. Henrique.
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