Portuguese broadcasting for the empire: the development of radio in São Tomé and Príncipe during the colonial war

• Sílvio Santos ^[1] ; Rogério Santos ^[2]
  1. [1] Universidade de Coimbra

     Universidade de Coimbra

     Coimbra (Sé Nova), Portugal

     
  2. [2] Catholic University - Portugal
• Localización: La revolución tecnológica de la comunicación en perspectiva: historia de los nuevos medios digitales, los nuevos medios en la historia / coord. por Xosé López García, Alberto Pena Rodríguez, Jaume Guillamet i Lloveras, 2019, ISBN 978-84-09-14731-1, págs. 723-731
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Retransmisión en portugués para el imperio: el desarrollo de la radio en Santo Tomé y Príncipe durante la guerra colonial
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro
• Resumen

  • From an early stage, the Portuguese state broadcaster was seen as an important instrument for the unity of the Portuguese Empire. However, despite the beginning of short waves broadcasting from the mainland to the overseas colonies during the 30’s, imperial broadcasting was not a priority until the 50’s. In fact, listening to the EN in some parts of the African colonies was a difficult task. To overcome those problems and the lack of technical investment, for several years EN sent recordings to some of the local stations. During the 50’s, when the independence of other African colonies began to echo and the territories in India were suddenly lost, imperial broadcasting became a priority. EN became a key player in countering the propaganda from other media and in promoting a unified idea of the nation. In São Tomé and Príncipe, one of the smallest Portuguese colonies in Africa, the influence of EN was felt through the local Rádio Clube de São Tomé, a privately-owned station that has its roots in 1948 and was closely connected to the ruling structures. In the late 60’s, Rádio Clube was turned into a local EN station. That was the strategy decided by the Portuguese government for Africa during the independence war with the African colonies. On this presentation, we bring some unpublished data both from archival research and interviews with former radio professionals. We analyze the development of the Portuguese broadcasting in São Tomé as a proxy for the global use of radio in the unification of the empire, particularly during colonial war.