Aggravating circumstances? The COVID-19-related situational threats against the press in Portugal

Abstract

This study aims to fill the gap of the practical impediments for journalists properly doing their work during the COVID-19 pandemic over a single country. It is achieved by mapping the situational threats faced by the press in Portugal, as one of the best countries that grant media a free environment to work, which illustrates the challenges faced by media in established democracies. Drawing on the analysis of 34 episodes reported by national and international monitoring bodies over twenty months since the onset of the coronavirus crisis in the country, it concludes that economic threats alongside limitations in accessing information prevailed to the detriment of verbal and physical attacks or smear campaigns and online harassment. Apart from the nuance of the far-right hostility towards the press due to the health restrictions during campaign reporting as a new type of threat manifestation, the remaining threats experienced by the Portuguese media accelerated or aggravated previous trends.