These positions by the head of state are included in a recorded message for the conference "The future of the media", which took place in Lisbon, organised by the members of the Private Media Platform (PMP) Media Capital, Medialivre, Impresa, Público and Renascença.

For Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, "it is essential that the consensus regarding the measures be as broad as possible".

"They cannot be measures that are only the government's, or only one party's, or a coalition of parties', or one political or ideological area's. There must, in fact, be a consensus, and that is why I referred to the fundamental role of the Assembly of the Republic", he states.

On the other hand, the President of the Republic expects "equal treatment" and that the "contribution of each level of media", national, regional and local, be taken into account.

"Finally, it is very important that there is permanent monitoring of the results of the application of the measures that may be proposed, to ensure that they are proposed and implemented, to ensure speed in implementation, to ensure that there are no deviations or distortions", he considers.

According to the Head of State, what is at stake is an "objective that is essentially democratic" and that "brings everyone together, brings together the Private Media Platform (PMP), brings together other media outlets, brings together professionals in the sector".

"I congratulate the platform for the initiative, I congratulate the Government for having followed through on what is the product of the work of the mission structure, I hope that the objectives are not frustrated, because that is not what we want. What we want is more independent media, for a stronger democracy in Portugal", he adds.