PhD in Communication Sciences from the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa and graduated in Law from the Faculdade de Direito de Lisboa.
He was a lecturer at the Department of Communication Sciences at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the New University of Lisbon between 1981 and 1995 and between 2002 and 2016.
He served as Secretary of State for the Media between 1995 and 2002 in the 13th and 14th Constitutional Governments and as Member of the Constituent Assembly and the Assembly of the Republic (1975 to 1983, 1987 to 1995 and 2002 to 2009).
He was a journalist in the Republic (1974/5) and in A Luta (1975/6) and a member of the Press Council (in 1975 and between 1985 and 1988) and of the Press Information Councils (1977-80) and for RDP (1980-84).
He was Vice-Chairman of the Regulatory Board of the ERC (Media Regulator) between 2012 and 2017.
He is the author or co-author of eight books and numerous articles on media-related topics.
