MiIntroduction
In order to make this essay I had to, first and foremost, to choose the person that I would describe and analyze which was a challenge for me being that I don't know most of the persons in charge of the media institutions in Portugal (and much less from foreign countries).
Finally, I decided to chose Público, a journal in Portugal of my liking. Having decided for this media institution I chose to describe the editor-in-chief of the said institution, Bárbara Reis.
Description of Bárbara Reis and her most important achievements
Bárbara Reis started young, she was only seventeen years old when she tried to follow the path she believed to be hers, becoming a photographer ...view middle of the document...
She worked with Sérgio Vieira de Mello who she values a lot and was supposed to give formation to journalists for six months during the negotiations between Portugal and Indonesia about Timor but she ended up staying for two years as the mission's spokeswoman only returning to Público in 2002 where she started editing the Culture section and helped found P2 section that englobes society, interviews, arts and culture. As of 2009, she became the director of Público.
It's important to explain the political context that was being lived at the moment of her taking the director cargo for a future analysis of this person according to Mintzberg. The previous director of Público was highly anti-goverment, at least anti the government established at the time, which caused Público not to be neutral in political themes and Bárbara Reis changed this, saying, about her objectives, as she took the cargo of director "to consolidate the fundational matrix of Público: good journalism, of reference and isent". She changed the way Público worked and was perceived by the people who read it.
Bárbara Reis according to Mintzberg
When Bárbara Reis assumed the cargo of Director of Público, the decision wasn't unanimous and she was criticized for this but she simply answered that in a team of nearly two hunded people, it's difficult to obtain absolute majority; she also displayed good skills as a Disturbance Handler because at the time Público was involved in some polemic situations, due to it's previous director being clearly against the established government, and during this time she kept comments to a minimum and said that a new era for Público would emerge, slowly appeasing the critics. Although she displayed these skills she is not a Disturbance Handler, fitting more into the role of a Leader or a Figurehead being a bit difficult to decide which suits her better because of certain comments, from Público's employees, about her. Sometime's she's considered prepotent and arrogant which are very negative points for either a Leader of a Figurehead but simultaneously she's considered to have good organizational skills and good control over her team, being that after the first critics appeared at the time of her assumption as director and following changes made by her, there weren't many more critics being made. As a professional no one doubts her quality and professionalism which gives her a good reputation and let her become sort of a role model for those working in this area. Based on all of this Bárbara Reis would probably be more fitting for the role of Leader than Figurehead being that sometimes it's not easy to be a leader and people will dislike you for certain courses of action you take but in the end you need to get the job done and to be able to lead your team a point in which Bárbara has demonstrated her proficiency.
Público according to Mintzberg
Público newspaper is, according to Mintzberg, a juncition between several Organizational...
