2006 – General Assembly – Ciudad de México, México
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Reports @en
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CHILE
8 de mayo de 2013 - 20:00
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During this period the press faced no major obstacles in carrying out its work. However, the government took an indifferent stance toward proposed legislation on protection of privacy, reputation, and personal image. The bill was sent to the Senate for a second time, but it has stalled. The news media consider this law essential, as it would help clarify important issues related to compensation for damages. It would also amend Article 161-A of the Criminal Code, which currently penalizes violations of privacy but is technically flawed.
Following the disappearance of a magazine and newspaper ideologically linked to certain factions in the government, some members of Congress have insisted on the need for government regulation of advertising. They claim that funding for advertising is not in proportion with the actual circulation and readership of a given media outlet. They also maintain that the placement of advertising by the government is inspired by political, business, and ideological quotas. These complaints led the Chamber of Deputies to establish a fact-finding commission to look into how government advertising is placed. The commission began its work this month and is issuing subpoenas to people involved in the placement of government advertising.
A bill on the so-called Journalistic Statute, which was drafted by the state-sanctioned journalists association (colegio), contains a conscience clause linked to copyright, a concept that had been deleted when the Press Law was considered by Congress. The bill, which largely repeats definitions already included in the Press Law, states that journalistic copyright is inalienable and independent of media owners. The bill also states that, while media owners have the right to set their own editorial line, journalists reporting must be respected according to the technical and ethical standards of the profession. The General Secretary of Government has stated the presidents willingness to support this bill.
On August 7, 2006, the publishing company Empresa Periodística El Centro S.A. and the editor of its newspaper El Centro were ordered to pay 20 million pesos in damages to a victim of sexual assault. The assault occurred in the city of Constitución in March 2003, and the January 27, 2004 edition of the newspaper reported on the sexual assault case decided by a court in Talca. The published report included the name of the victim. The ruling against the publisher and newspaper was based on Article 33 of the Press Law, which makes it illegal to release the name and other personal information of sexual assault victims. In this case the victim did not request that the newspaper be fined as provided in Article 33. Instead, she later filed a civil lawsuit for damages. It should be noted that the new Code of Criminal Procedure, which went into effect after the Press Law, radically changed the criminal justice system to make proceedings speedy, oral, and public. As a result, the oral trial is open to the public, and only at a partys request and by the judges reasoned ruling may measures be taken to protect the privacy, reputation, and safety of those involved. No such request was made in this case, and the reporter gathered information on the case in the trial itself. The ruling against the publishing company and newspaper has been appealed, and the appeals court ruling is pending.
A fine was handed down by the Securities and Insurance Administration against the editor and owner of the newspaper Estrategia for published reports that the regulatory body deemed to be false and biased. As a result, the National Press Association asked the Media Ethics Council to issue an opinion on good practices in financial reporting. A summary of this opinion and a lengthy attachment were published on August 16 and 17, 2006, by the newspapers belonging to the National Press Association. It is hoped that this opinion will serve as the basis for the respective codes of conduct that each newspaper, according to its own circumstances, should adopt to ensure quality reporting on financial matters.
