The document, below, will be sent to the President, the Speaker of the National Assembly, parliamentary leaders of the parties represented in Parliament, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Deputy Minister and Regional Development , the Attorney General of the Republic, the Ombudsman, the Chairmen of the ERC and the CNE, the Union of Journalists of the Ethics Council and the Professional Portfolio Committee on Journalists and the boards of media groups involved.
The subscribers of “For Freedom of Information” letter are obviously available to contribute to a solution that upholds the general principles.
At the meeting were appointed as representatives of the group editorial director Grace Franco, director Information Radio Renaissance, José Alberto de Carvalho, president of the Editorial Committee of the TVI, and Pedro Camacho, director of view.
They endorsed the document editorial directors of all national press media, radio and television .
——————————————
THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
Media coverage of election campaigns
Background
Freedom of expression is part of the fundamental right of citizens to free and pluralistic information, essential for democracy and social and economic development of the country.
The practice of journalism lies in editorial freedom and can not prevent the state, impose or restrict journalistic treatment and the dissemination of news, interviews or debates.
The signatories do not conform with a legislative framework which determines that the State conditional or set the editorial line of each news agency, every newspaper, every radio, every TV and every magazine, restricting the right to information.
The current picture legislation regulating journalism in the election period and the interpretation that the administrative authorities shall form are misfits of political and social reality and the media evolution.
For many years, the President of the Republic, the Ombudsman Justice, the main political parties, journalists, Social Communication organs, Regulatory Authority for Social Communication draw attention to the need to amend the legislative framework created 40 years ago.
II. The current situation
– State intervention in the definition of news-value
-. interference in editorial freedom of outside bodies to publishing essays and conditioning the freedom of expression of citizens and journalists;
– conditioning the right to inform, to be informed and to inform up, fundamental rights of democracy and the development of a country
-.. unenforceability practice, in fact, the current electoral law
existing legislative framework:.
– It conditions the freedom of information and interfere with the autonomy of the media by imposing a specific metric and others to present and editorial scrutiny
– Put in Because pluralism and diversity information to determine what news that debates and interviews must be done in each organ of social communication
-. It confuses the editorial work with political party advertising initiatives, with times news antenna
-. It imposes rules for opinion articles and political comments
-. It requires that issues of different nature and importance have the same news coverage, canceling the criteria editorials and the news value of events.
III. New legal framework
The signatories consider that the new legal framework should have the following guidelines:
1. You should define the principles that guide the media coverage of the candidates for the different elections (President of the Republic, the National Assembly, European Parliament, members of local government bodies) and referendums.
2. It should be presented in a clear and objective way, so do not raise doubts that the current legislation has raised or in its practical application, both in its legal interpretation.
3. Should apply to all media that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Portuguese State, regardless of the means of communication and the platform used.
4. Should separate unequivocally journalistic activity, the sole responsibility of the media, of advertising initiatives, including the broadcasting time, that are the responsibility of the candidates or parties. Consideration should be given journalistic activities all news, reports, interviews, extended discussions, face to face, commentary, political analysis, opinion or other journalistic content.
5. Should apply only to the period of the election campaign, the dates are set in the electoral laws.
In this context,
a) The news coverage of the election campaign of the various candidates should respect the rights and duties enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution and the legal framework governing the activity of journalists and mass media, as well as the respective statutes and codes of conduct.
b) The right to information must be safeguarded in compliance with the principles of freedom, independence and impartiality of the media and journalists face to all political forces and all applications.
c) The media coverage of the election campaign should bear in mind the balance between the principle of non-discrimination of applications and the independence and editorial freedom and programming of the media.
d) This balance should not lead to arbitrary exclusion or total absence of activities . news about a particular application, during the election campaign period
IV – Appeal to the legislator
A few months of two key elections for the country – parliamentary elections and presidential elections – in the name of freedom of information and pluralism and in defense of democracy, the underwriters of this document appeal to parties and MPs to discuss and approve a timely bill still allows the newspapers and to radio and television stations to full coverage of election campaigns, with ethical sense and professional responsibility and without conditions or restrictions imposed by state agencies.
30 April 2015
Afonso Camões, Director of News Journal
Alcides Vieira, Director of Information SIC
André Macedo Director of News Diary
António José Teixeira, Director of SIC News
Barbara Reis, Director Public
David Dinis, Director of Observer
Fernando Paula Brito, Director Lusa Information
Grace Franco, Radio Renaissance Information Director
Helena Garrido, Director of the Business Journal
John Paul Baltazar, Director of antenna Information 1
José António Lima, Deputy Director of the Sun
Luis Rosa, Director of I
Octavio Ribeiro, Director of the Morning Post
Paul Baldaia, Director of TSF
Paulo Dentinho, Director of RTP Information
Pedro Camacho, Director of Vision
Raul Vaz, Director of the Economic Journal
Ricardo Costa, Director of Express
Rui Hortelão, Director Saturday
Sérgio Figueiredo, Director of Information TVI
No comments:
Post a Comment