Público was first published on 5 March 1990.[2][3][4] The paper was founded by Sonae[5] and is owned by the Sonae group.[6] In 1992 Italian media company Repubblica International Holding SA, a subsidiary of Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso, acquired 16.75% of the paper.[7]
Público is published in tabloid format[8] and has its headquarters in Lisbon.[9] The paper is known as a publication of the French school with extensive texts and few illustrations. Its first editor-in-chief was Vicente Jorge Silva, formerly sub-editor-in-chief at Expresso. José Manuel Fernandes also served as the editor-in-chief of the paper. Since 2009 Bárbara Reis has served as the editor-in-chief.[8]
Público is one of the first Portuguese mainstream newspapers to have an online edition which was started in 1995.[10] Its online edition was free and included almost all the articles from the print edition, except for the pictures. In 2005 it changed from a fully free-access to a subscription model. In 2006, the HTML version of the current day's edition became free again, while the other contents, such as the PDF version (only for subscribers), enhanced HTML version and access to past editions, are still subject to registration and subscription. The online edition of Público was named as Europe's online-medium of the year in 2013.[11]
^Manuel Pinto; Helena Sousa (2004). "Portugal". In M. Kelly; et al. (eds.). The Euromedia Handbook(PDF). London: SAGE. pp. 180–190. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
^Carvalho, Manuel; Correia, Amílcar; Lopes, Ana Sá; Pontes, David; Pedro, Tiago Luz (16 August 2018). "Os compromissos da Direcção Editorial" [The commitments of the Editorial Board]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 January 2019. A newspaper committed to fostering (...) support for the ideals of the European project and the certainty that as Portuguese we are part of a world that shapes us and in which we ought to participate.
^Cavanagh, Allison; Steel, John (November 2019). Letters to the Editor: Comparative and Historical Perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 17. ISBN978-3030264796. Our case study of a Portuguese newspaper of record, Público, ....
^Carter, Cynthia; Steiner, Linda; McLaughlin, Lisa (December 2013). The Routledge Companion to Media & Gender. Routledge. p. 435. ISBN978-0415527699. The daily Público is Portugal's newspaper of record, with typical news and section divides.
^Fishman, Robert M. (April 2019). Democratic Practice: Origins of the Iberian Divide in Political Inclusion. Oxford University Press. p. 234. ISBN978-0190912888. .... with Portuguese journalists included José Manuel Fernandes, at the time director of Portugal's newspaper of record, Publico, Lisbon.
^"World Press Trends"(PDF). World Association of Newspapers. Paris. 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2015.