Newspaper “A Tribuna Portuguesa”

Nº OF MEETING: XVII

The newspaper A Tribuna Portuguesa, also called the Portuguese Tribune, is a Portuguese-English bilingual biweeklynewspaperpublished in the city of Modesto, California, USA. It is currently the only Portuguese newspaper of the US West Coast.

Founded in July 1979 in the Portuguese-American community of San Jose, it began to be published regularly two months later. In the 80s,it went through a period of financial and administrative difficulties which led to a reorganization carried out by the Portuguese-American businessmen Albert Soares, John Rodrigues da Silveiraand Arthur Thomas, withthe Azorean writerArtur da Cunha Oliveirabeing appointed editor. Two years later, following the departure of Cunha Oliveira, the newspaperonce again faced difficulties, with a new administration that included Jaime Lemos, Armando AntunesandHélderAntunestaking over the newspaper, introducing some improvements in the content and hiring new staff members,including José Ávila.

In 2003, the company The Tagus Group, owned by businessman José Ávila, acquired the rights of the Portuguese Tribune and moved its headquarters from San Jose to Modesto, a city in the San Joaquin Valley where thousands of Portuguese and Portuguese descendants live. The newspaper was modernized, increasing the number of staff members, the coverage of eventsin the Portuguese community in California, and its commitment to the English section to reach out to the younger generations of Portuguese descendants who do not command the Portuguese language.