Lisbon, May 26, 2026 (Lusa) - The chair of the Board of Directors of the Portuguese news agency Lusa emphasised on Tuesday the agency’s importance at a time when information is constantly under siege, and said that Lusa must contribute to the quality of democratic life.
Joaquim Carreira was speaking in the main lobby of parliament at the opening ceremony of the exhibition “40 Years | 40 Photographs”, part of the celebrations marking Lusa's anniversary, following a speech by the speaker of parliament, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
He began by highlighting the importance of the news agency as a strategic national response designed to guarantee accurate, independent, and public-interest information within Portugal and abroad.
He noted that values such as fact-checking, rigour, editorial independence, and a commitment to public service had clearly emerged as the defining hallmarks of Lusa throughout its history.
"Its role is not merely to inform; it is also to contribute to the quality of democratic life," he said, adding that celebrating Lusa is to celebrate the importance of credible journalism; it is to recognise the value of those who work daily to ensure that facts prevail over noise.
He said that the exhibition, which opened on Tuesday, is a symbolic expression of the agency’s journey, but that the photos on display are a tiny fraction of Lusa’s entire news archive. A living archive built up day by day, he added.
He also highlighted the role of Lusa’s staff throughout the agency's 40-year history, describing them as its most important asset.
“Their experience, their knowledge and their commitment are the foundation that has enabled Lusa to reach this point and will be the foundation that enables us to face a constantly changing world,” he said.
The travelling exhibition "40 Years | 40 Photographs", which opened on Tuesday in parliament’s main lobby, forms part of Lusa’s anniversary celebrations and brings together photographs taken by current and former photojournalists of the news agency over the last four decades.
The first photograph, dating from 1986, depicts the merger of the news agencies ANOP and NP, which led to the creation of Lusa.
The exhibition also features images of defining moments in Portugal's history, such as Rosa Mota’s victory in the women’s marathon at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games; the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to José Saramago in 1998; the collapse of the Entre-os-Rios bridge in 2001; the arrest of former Prime Minister José Sócrates in 2014; and Portugal’s victory in the 2016 European Football Championship.
Among the most recent photographs are images of the destruction in Kyiv following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022; World Youth Day in 2023, attended by Pope Francis; the power cut that hit the Iberian Peninsula in April 2025; and the trail of destruction left by Storm Kristin, which ravaged Portugal early this year.
The exhibition also features a section dedicated to parliament, with records ranging from the approval of the 2002 state budget under the then minority PS (Socialist Party) government led by António Guterres, to the 16th Parliamentary Term in 2024, marked by the increase in the Chega (far-right populist party) to 50 members, and the election, at the fourth attempt, of José Pedro Aguiar-Branco as speaker of parliament.
The exhibition also features a text by the sociologist and former MP António Barreto, who highlighted the indispensable role Lusa played, and the way in which the agency guided the news through a formidable period of upheaval during which freedom was consolidated in Portugal, democracy was established, and extraordinary progress was achieved, but terrifying risks were also taken, and catastrophes and disasters were endured.
TS/MYAL // ADB.
Lusa
