Dominican Republic

Aa
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WHEREAS press freedom is impossible without independence of media outlets, and that, in turn, depends on their financial strength WHEREAS the media outlets taken over because of the asset-laundering law in the Dominican Republic have an unfair advantage because they receive economic advantages from the government and the government exempts them from payments required of the independent press, which contributes to the decline of freedom of expression and the dissemination of ideas WHEREAS this unfair competition has a doubly damaging effect because of the state of the Dominican economy which is reflected in the adverse conditions for the financial health of independent media outlets, some of which have closed, leaving few openings for pluralism WHEREAS Principle 6 of the Declaration of Chapultepec says, “The media and journalists should neither be discriminated against nor favored because of what they write or say” THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to ask the Dominican government to end any aid or financial assistance to the media outlets that were taken over and allow them to operate under the same market conditions as the independent media, and that, given their temporary status as public enterprises, everything about their finances and operations be disclosed openly and on a regular basis, as should be done in a democratic society.

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