(FIP/IFEX) – The following 16 September 1998 letter to Doctor Edgar Montiel, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO’s) representative to Paraguay, is from FIP member the Paraguay Union of Journalists (Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay, SPP), Asuncion: On behalf of the Paraguay Union of Journalists (Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay, SPP) and […]
(FIP/IFEX) – The following 16 September 1998 letter to Doctor Edgar Montiel,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s
(UNESCO’s) representative to Paraguay, is from FIP member the Paraguay Union
of Journalists (Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay, SPP), Asuncion:
On behalf of the Paraguay Union of Journalists (Sindicato de Periodistas del
Paraguay, SPP) and the Communication Sciences Department of the Catholic
University, we wish to bring to your attention our concern regarding the
regulation of alternative radio in Paraguay. In view of the situation
explained below, we ask that UNESCO look into the absence of democratised
communications in our country.
Recently, a resolution of the National Telecommunications Commission
(CONATEL) regulated small and medium coverage radio stations. The content of
the regulations run counter to that which is established in the National
Constitution, the San José Pact and the Telecommunications Law 642. These
regulations give alternative and community radio stations a marginal
position; they are given little power and few frequencies (which do not meet
minimum demands,) and are denied the opportunity to run advertisements, all
of which has the practical effect of leaving them little chance of survival.
In contrast, the government pushed business sector growth in commercial
radio broadcasting. In accordance with CONATEL statistics circulated through
the press, since the new Telecommunications Law 642 came into effect two
years ago, investment in the country for the creation of commercial radio
stations is estimated at US$10,400,000. This is a result of the massive
bidding on radio frequencies — 80 FM and twelve AM, leaving very little
space available for alternative radio stations.
Equal access to the airwaves is guaranteed under the law. However, in two
years of negotiations with CONATEL, organisations like ours have not managed
to make the authorities understand that. When the regulations were put in
place, pressure from the commercial radio sector won out; there was a
refusal to admit that other sectors of civil society are also entitled to
equal access to the airwaves.
The state and private radio broadcasting companies need to understand that,
in addition to the economic, political, military and religious power
structure, and the large, commercial broadcasters, Paraguay’s civil
society — including the popular sectors and middle class, students and
professionals — also has the right to shape public opinion at both the
local and global levels.
We feel it is necessary that UNESCO, the prestigious UN organisation,
promote international documents on the democratisation of communications in
Paraguay. We know that this has been defined by UNESCO as the process
through which an individual can take an active part in, and not simply be an
object of, communication. In this vision, there is an increase in the
variety of information exchanged, as well as in the quality of
representation in participation and communication. More and varied media are
available to more people. The public, various communities, and different
social movements and actors have better access — without discrimination or
exception.
We reject monopolies on communications — be they state-run or business-run.
In Paraguay, the state must include politicians who allow citizens from all
sectors access to radio broadcasting, such that the very international
conventions which have been ratified by this country be put into practice.
Mainly, there is a failure to promote social ownership, such as is the case
with alternative radio stations, as part of the landscape along with the
existing categories of private and state ownership.
It is important to insist that mass media reflect the culture of a society.
It is important to preserve and expand such spaces to make the
democratisation of communications a reality. The solution is not to
persecute alternative communications projects or accuse them of illegal
activity; rather, the solution is to extend and modernize the legal
framework and make it more flexible, so that the whole of civil society is
part of the radio spectrum.
Expression and communication are basic and universal human rights (pursuant
to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), and therefore
Paraguay is urged to modernise its system of granting radio and television
frequencies to enable equal opportunity for all. The right to a public voice
and the exercise of free expression and communication cannot be subordinated
to either political or economic interests.
