(IPYS/IFEX) – On 15 July 2004, the government approved a new Radio and Television Law. Article 34 of the law requires radio and television to adopt a code of ethics and present it to the Transportation and Communications Ministry. Article 75 of the law stipulates that a station would commit a minor infraction if it […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 15 July 2004, the government approved a new Radio and Television Law. Article 34 of the law requires radio and television to adopt a code of ethics and present it to the Transportation and Communications Ministry.
Article 75 of the law stipulates that a station would commit a minor infraction if it fails to present a code of ethics to the ministry. Article 76 of the law stipulates that the stations failing to operate in accordance with their code of ethics will face sanctions. A station found guilty of violating Article 76 more than twice in one year would be considered to have committed a serious violation and would face the cancellation of its licence.
Article 70 establishes that the Transportation and Communications Ministry will be in charge of overseeing and evaluating the stations’ conduct and determining the sanctions in cases where a station is found to have violated the law.
On 4 March 2003, during a lengthy debate of the law, which was brought forward by President Alejandro Toledo, IPYS’s Board of Directors argued that codes of ethics should be adopted voluntarily by media outlets and condemned any governmental attempt to impose them by law. According to IPYS, the law poses a threat as it opens the door to politically-motivated control over media outlets.
On 23 June 2004, less than a month before the law was approved, the National Radio and Television Society (Sociedad Nacional de Radio y Televisión) voiced concern about a number of articles in the law and condemned the passing of legislation that would regulate the content of programming.
Before the law was approved, Justice Minister Baldo Kresalja objected to the fact that the law did not stipulate penalties for directors of radio and television stations found guilty of corruption. Kresalja’s objections were not taken into account.
