Journalism in Cape Verde: interview with Silvino Lopes Évora

“Professional training is a distinguishing factor for the positioning of the media in the public space”. Photo: courtesy

Silvino Lopes Évora is a Cape Verdean journalist, writer and professor. Currently president of the Cape Verdean Association of Communication Sciences (Mediacom) and of the Scientific Council of the University of Cape Verde (UniCV), he is also vice-president of the Lusophone Federation of Communication Sciences (Lusocom).

Born in the city of Tarrafal, in Santiago Island, besides his work as a writer, Silvino has an intense academic production in the area of Political Economy of Communication, with post-doctorate degree at Fernando Pessoa University, in Portugal. Among the books he has published in Portuguese are Concentração dos Media e Liberdade de Imprensa (Media Concentration and Press Freedom — Minerva: 2011, academic), and Rimas no Deserto (Rhymes in the Desert — Chiado Books: 2009, poetry).

Enio Moraes Júnior — Cape Verdean migration is a phenomenon that draws attention, with consequences even in literature. How does it influence the agenda of national journalism?

Silvino Lopes Évora — Immigration is a natural phenomenon for Cape Verdeans. After the country’s independence in 1975, Cape Verde began to implement its own media system, which started to be dualistic (state and religious) and later became pluralistic, with the proliferation of private initiative in the field of mass media…