Statement of the Journalists Union
of Panama
about the situation of the national press
and journalism
The Journalists Unon of Panama (Sindicato
de Periodistas de Panama) wishes to express to the citizenry its deepest concern
about a series of events that have been rocking the journalistic profession.
At the same time we reiterate to the public our unchanging principled position
that not only relates to freedom of expression and thought, but also to the
general policy of the Panamanian government with regard to public information.
In the first place, it's important
to point out that for many years a great number of Panamanian journalists
have been stigmatized and marginalized, not only openly persecuted in public
offices, but also by certain private businesses, generally for political reasons.
Despite the statements, mobilizations
and legal actions promoted by the Journalists Unon of Panama and related groups
to get the Panamanian government to promulgate legislation consonant with
the changing times in which the world lives, it has interposed all manner
of obstacles that have made journalism the most dangerous, unprotected and
vulnerable of the professions.
With neither appropriate legislation
nor sufficient legal cover we Panamanian journalists continue to the objects
of the arbitrary and capricious actions of many business owners, who openly
violate the labor laws like those on social security, which are turning the
journalistic media into a truly devalued sweatshop. In recent months dozens
of journalists have been fired by certain communications media, some without
valid justification. Some have been obliged to resign from our union, in open
violation of national and international law.
Recently about 50 journalists have
been sued or called to trial. Another five professionals have been condemned
by summary trials, while thousands of common detainees have to wait years
for the courts to take up their cases. It is surprising, to say the least,
that those courts which the community has cited as responsible for a persistent
backlog in the judicial dockets have acted with incredible speed in processing
and condemning these colleagues. Such procedures are not only rejected by
our union, but we publicly denounce them.
For this reason the Journalists Union
of Panama has at different times in similar situations backed moves by the
executive branch to invoke the legal power of pardons to correct these excesses.
Pardons in these cases when justice has evidently been politicized have their
legal precedents dating back to the beginning of the republic, and merit the
citizenry's recognition under the principle that it's better to correct an
error than to perpetuate it.
From the point of view of this journalists'
group, the possibility of the executive using its legal powers to proclaim
pardons for those journalists who are being summarily and completely insultingly
condemned appears most sensible.
The Journalists Union of Panama has
an exceptionally clear position about these events. Our group repudiates and
in no way accepts the intrusion of certain journalists, or those who aren’t
journalists, into people's private lives, honor and dignity. Neither do we
tolerate the many cases in which cases and events that have been submitted
to judicial proceedings are aired and tried in the communications media rather
than in the courts, with the connivance of the owners of said media and the
worst of the authorities.
To this end our organization has
been holding a series of seminars, workshops, conferences, meetings and contests,
some of them in conjunction with other academic, public, private or international
bodies or entities, with the aim of promoting the professionalism of journalism,
both in its technical aspects and in ethical training.
It is necessary, on the other hand,
that no story sees the light of day without the authorization of a superior
in the medium that publishes it. In some cases when journalists put their
signature on a given story, they must back up their opinions and if it comes
to that, to be treated with the due process of the laws of the republic. However,
we must emphatically point out that when some media and their journalistic
employees point out corruption and other irregularities in their stories,
that increases the lawsuits and pressures against them.
At the same time the Journalists
Union of Panama feels equally at unease when it observes from many angles
the ways that the administration manages the news from the public relations
offices, and in general. We particularly wish to recall that on March 14,
2000 this union made an eight-point public appeal to the government about
this.
We took the opportunity then, and
we take it now, to say that "the Panamanian government as such lacks a social
communications policy in general." What it lacked, and still lacks today,
is a strategy about information, its publication, public relations and advertising.
We said then and we have continued to repeat over the past year that in the
higher public offices there is a disregard, confusion and lack of values about
the role that social communications must play in the country's socio-economic
development, for example in public ethics and morals.
We said in that statement that without
a clearly defined communications policy by which public official information
is managed, the response is improvisation, cronyism and partisan favoritism
that overwhelms and excludes merit, professionalism and experience. Lamentably,
the practice continues and experience has shown that our concern was well
founded.
Nevertheless, it's necessary to insist
on what we affirmed a year ago: "If it's true that the Panamanian government
has come to the conviction that these deficiencies must be corrected —
a notion that we share — then we must begin a time of discussion, a professional
debate the raises principles and unifies concepts not only for the present,
but for the future. Above sectarianism and intimacies there exists a real
identity between the reporter and the public relations specialist, a commitment
to service not just in front of a computer, but in daily practice.
Thus there is no cause to continue
blaming journalists inside or outside the public sector for putting the media
spotlight of the moment on the administration's performance. Nor is there
cause to continue with the practice of using legal action and other means
of intimidation as instruments of repression against journalists when the
media for which they work publicize complaints about acts of corruption or
other anomalies carried out by public or private authorities. Really, the
problem doesn't start with us.
Finally, the Journalists Union
of Panama wants to publicly establish our position of March 14, 2000: "Our
union, despite any political, ideological, partisan or personal prejudice,
is well disposed to elucidate the delicate aspects of our reality and lend
significant support to the country's sustainable development, by means of
practices that are informative, truthful and highly professional."
The Journalists Union of Panama DEMANDS:
An immediate end to the unjustified
firings of journalists, both in the public and private sectors;
The abandonment, once and for all,
of the practice of discriminating against and excluding from public functions
journalists and communicators for political or partisan reasons;
An end to the practice of blaming
journalists for the good or bad actions of public or private citizens, or
for the conduct of official or private entities;
The elimination of the now generalized
practice on the part of certain courts of accepting frivolous lawsuits against
journalists, and tipping the balance of justice toward the most powerful side;
Legislation that truly contemplates
the regulation of journalism within the parameters of ethics, morality and
proper credentials, and with social justice and stable working conditions,
such as the provisions of the draft law that now sits in the Ministry of Government
and Justice; and
A dignified, critical and highly
professional journalism.
