Lusa News Agency
Lusa
Portugal · Quick FactsSources: Lusa service listings and 2025 annual report; government announcements, November 2025 and January 2026; revised statutes; Reporters Without Borders 2026. Classification per the State Media Matrix. Information checked to 29 September 2026.
Typology trajectory — Lusa
Portugal · 2022–2026Sources: ERC decision reported 9 September 2026; European Commission 2026 Portugal country chapter; Media Pluralism Monitor 2026; Media and Journalism Research Center analyses, 2023 and 2024. ISFM = Independent State-Funded and State-Managed, per the State Media Matrix. Information checked to 29 September 2026.
Agência Lusa is Portugal’s principal news agency. The Portuguese state became its sole shareholder in November 2025. Joaquim Carreira chairs its three-member executive Board for the 2026 to 2029 term. The agency provides news under a public-service contract and also earns commercial income.
Media assets
News agency: Lusa
Ownership and governance
The state held 50.1 per cent of Lusa for many years. It acquired substantial private holdings in 2024, then the remaining shares, including NP – Notícias de Portugal’s holding, in November 2025. Following a EUR 5 million capital increase completed at the end of that year, the state held all 4,129,690 shares, representing share capital of EUR 10,324,225. The earlier figure of EUR 5.3 million describes the capital before that increase.
The sole shareholder approved revised statutes by written resolution on 29 December 2025; the government announced the governance changes in January 2026. Lusa’s website described registration of the revised statutes as pending when checked for this update.
The statutes provide for a Board of three executive members serving four-year terms. Lusa identifies Joaquim Carreira as President and Luís Ferreira Lopes and Ana Alves as Vice-Presidents for 2026 to 2029.
The statutes also establish a 13-member Advisory Council. Its membership is drawn from Parliament, the autonomous regions, municipalities, Lusa’s workers and newsroom, media-sector associations and RTP. Four seats are designated by media-sector associations; RTP designates a separate seat.
The Council monitors compliance with the public-service contract and gives opinions on the quality, professionalism and independence of Lusa’s news activity. It may issue prior, non-binding opinions on Board elections and the appointment of the director of information. It has no power to direct the agency’s activities.
In a decision reported on 9 September 2026, the media regulator ERC found that the current Board was selected just before the requirement for a prior Council opinion took effect. ERC stated that, under the arrangement adopted, the safeguard would first apply to the 2030 to 2033 Board.
Source of funding and budget
Lusa receives state compensation under its 2022 to 2027 contract for public-interest news and information services and earns revenue from other customers.
Lusa turnover and results
| Year | Turnover | State-contract compensation | Own-source services | Net result | Contract share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 18.55 | 14.47 | 4.09 | −0.25 | 78.0% |
| 2024 | 18.32 | 14.14 | 4.18 | +2.05 | 77.2% |
| 2025 | 19.78 | 15.85 | 3.93 | +0.34 | 80.1% |
Sources: Lusa 2024 and 2025 annual reports; government announcement of 2 June 2026; shareholder meeting of 30 March 2026. Information checked to 29 September 2026.
The state contract accounted for approximately 80.1 per cent of 2025 turnover. The EUR 5 million capital increase is separate from annual turnover.
Lusa’s 2024 result included an exceptional gain associated with a court case. Its 2025 net profit was EUR 335,622.
On 2 June 2026 the government approved a EUR 5 million investment and modernisation plan using the capital increase: EUR 3 million for technology and EUR 2 million for staffing.
At the shareholder meeting of 30 March 2026 the 2025 accounts were approved; the proposed 2026 Activity Plan and Budget was not.
Editorial independence
Lusa publishes the Portuguese journalists’ deontological code and its own style book, which includes technical and ethical rules for news work.
Ad hoc analyses by the Media and Journalism Research Center in May 2023 and March 2024 found balanced coverage without preferential treatment of state bodies. The material examined for this update did not identify direct government instructions over particular stories or systematic editorial control.
AI and digital policy
Lusa’s 2025 annual report documents work involving artificial intelligence. It reports AI training for 155 workers in the first half of 2025 and proofs of concept involving sports-content automation, assistance with identifying agenda events and voice search for an audio news feed. It also describes consideration of an AI-assisted search tool for Lusa’s text archive.
No publicly available Lusa editorial AI policy was identified in the materials reviewed.
Classification rationale
Lusa remains classified Independent State-Funded and State-Managed (ISFM), provisionally.
The state owns the entire company, selects its executive Board and provided 80.1 per cent of 2025 turnover through public-service compensation, satisfying the ownership, governance and funding parts of the typology. The historical content reviews and the sources checked for this update did not identify systematic state direction of Lusa’s editorial coverage.
The editorial assessment carries a substantial qualification. ERC has challenged the legal basis of the new independence arrangements and found that the Council’s prior opinion did not protect the appointment of the 2026 to 2029 Board.
September 2026
Citation (cite the article/profile as part of):
Dragomir, M. (2025). State Media Monitor Global Dataset 2025.
Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC).
Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17219015
This article/profile is part of the State Media Monitor Global Dataset 2025, a continuously updated dataset published by the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC).