True newspapers do not begin with ink, nor do they end on paper. They begin with the daily act of listening to the world and extend across time as shared memory. They are made of sentences that endure, of silences that explain, of sustained attention to what happens when almost no one is looking. A newspaper of this kind does more than inform: it educates, accompanies, safeguards. It is a civic refuge and a moral compass—a place where words are bound to responsibility and the present learns not to forget itself.

In 2026, Diário dos Açores marks 156 years of continuous publication. Founded on February 5, 1870, by Manuel Augusto Tavares de Rezende in Ponta Delgada, it is the oldest daily newspaper in the archipelago and one of the oldest still in circulation in Portugal. This longevity is not merely a historical fact; it is evidence of a rare fidelity to journalism as a demanding craft—an everyday exercise in rigor, courage, and attentiveness to reality.

For more than a century and a half, Diário dos Açores has upheld values that today have become the exception rather than the rule. Information has always been treated as a mission, never as an instrument; fact as an anchor, never as ornament; and the space given to contributors as an inviolable territory of intellectual freedom. To write in this newspaper has always meant writing without interference, with full autonomy and mutual trust. Pluralism was not merely tolerated—it was cultivated. From that quiet commitment emerged a durable credibility, built on respect and oriented toward the future.

In a small archipelago, where everyone knows one another and everything reverberates, being a daily newspaper is arduous work. It requires constant presence, attentive listening, and a firm ethical stance in a space where proximity can never replace rigor. It also means coexisting with other newspapers within a fragile ecosystem, where every edition is an act of persistence. Practicing daily journalism in the Azores is often an exercise in discreet resistance: against haste, against noise, against the seduction of immediacy.

In recent years, this long trajectory has been accompanied by a deliberate effort at editorial and technological modernization, led by the current director, Paulo Viveiros. Modernization here did not mean breaking with identity, but deepening it: integrating digital platforms, expanding public presence, engaging new generations—without losing the ethical and historical thread that has sustained the newspaper since its founding. It is a difficult balance, and precisely for that reason, worthy of recognition.

This essay is also a collective expression of gratitude—to all the directors who, from the founder to the present day, knew how to preserve what mattered most while navigating the changes of time. Each left a distinct mark, but all shared a common conviction: a newspaper fulfills its purpose only when it serves the community, not transient interests.

There is another defining trait that deeply distinguishes Diário dos Açores: its enduring relationship with the diaspora. Early on, the newspaper understood that the Azores do not end at geography. They are an expanded archipelago, shaped by departures and returns, by memories that travel and belongings that endure. By keeping this bridge alive, the newspaper affirms an essential truth: the Azores are more fully Azorean with their diaspora. Identity does not diminish when it moves—it expands.

I wish to add a very personal word of gratitude, spoken from the diaspora itself. Whenever I send a piece from the United States—often written between time zones, memories, and distances—I find in Diário dos Açores a rare and profoundly human welcome. Each contribution is received with respect, editorial care, and a visible commitment to its publication, as if geographic distance did not exist. That gesture builds real bridges between the islands and the world, reminding us that the diaspora does not write from outside, but in continuity. By treating every text with equal attention and dignity, the newspaper reaffirms that the Azores are an expanded affective geography, where words, too, return home.

I write these lines from the United States, where I watch with growing unease the disappearance of historic newspapers, the shrinking of newsrooms, and the systematic assault on independent journalism. In a context where information has become a battleground, the value of a newspaper that resists without spectacle, informs without surrendering to noise, and continues to believe that the written word is an act of public responsibility becomes even clearer.

In a world saturated with voices, the newspaper remains a place of active silence—where facts are verified, opinions carry consequences, and language has weight. Diário dos Açores is such a place. An old house, yet alive. A vessel that has crossed storms, regimes, and technological upheavals without losing its course.

May there be many more years, many more pages, many more readers. May this newspaper continue to be both home and conscience, an archive of the present and a promise of the future. Because as long as newspapers like this exist, communities will recognize themselves, democracies will breathe, and islands will know that—even surrounded by sea—they are never alone.

Diniz Borges