Dominican Republic

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC A new law ending the prior obligation to belong to the Journalists Colegio and be a university graduate to practice journalism went into effect. The law, the result of an agreement between the old Colegio and the Dominican Newspaper Society, was approved unanimously by both houses of the Dominican Congress. It is in line with the advisory opinion of the Inter-American Human Rights Court and the Dominican Supreme Court, both of which held that obligatory Colegio membership and the requirement of a university degree for journalists are incompatible with freedom of expression and thought. The new law was welcomed by legislators and the media, which have pledged to support the new, voluntary membership Colegio. But a group of journalists dissatisfied with the agreement between the Colegio and the Dominican Newspaper Society formed a group calling itself the Professional Journalists Association (APP), and began a campaign for repeal of the law. They introduced a bill in the Senate that would require a journalism degree to practice journalism, except for those already working in the media. The bill did not immediately arouse much support am ong the Senators, who had only just approved the new law were not in favor of torpedoeing it now.