The Press Law

to be proposed to the Legislative Assembly
of Panama by the Moscoso Administration

(Unofficial English Translation of an Unauthenticated Draft)
by David M. Fishlow
(David@Fishlow.com)

“By means of which the practice of journalism shall be regulated in the Republic of Panama”

Title I
On the definition and the social significance of journalism

Article 1. The performance of the “newsgathering *1 function” covered by article 85 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama is recognized as an essential guarantee of the right of the citizenry to be informed. Journalism is the profession the exercise of which is responsible for *2 implementing the right to information.

Article 2. The guarantees established by article 37 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama, as well as the inherent responsibilities, shall be applied equally to the practice of journalism, regulated by this Law.

Article 3. The right to information is vested in the public. Journalism must serve this right as an instrument of the dynamics of society, which requires appropriate and sufficient dissemination *3 of events of public interest.

Article 4. Journalism shall carefully separate the description of facts from the dissemination *4 of opinion, facilitating insofar as possible the particular identification of each.

Article 5. The social communications media are obliged to provide opportunities for publication to the plurality of publics belonging to a society, and must do so while guaranteeing equal treatment, without permitting the predominance of any discriminatory judgment.

Article 6. Journalism and the enterprises linked to its practice must be vigilant in the protection of human rights and democratic values.

Title II
On the recognition of the professional journalist

Article 7. To be recognized as a journalist, one must be a citizen of Panama with an accredited degree in journalism, social communication and information sciences granted by a university duly accredited by the University of Panama, and registered with the Ministry of Education in the Book of Professional Journalists Registered in the Republic of Panama.

Paragraph 1. Said degree shall be accompanied by a certificate stating that the bearer has met the requirement, under the supervision of the respective academic authority, of serving during four (4) semesters as a paid employee of a duly registered informational medium. The graduates of provincial or regional university centers may meet this requirement with media which function as local organs of information in the place(s) where they have completed their last two (2) years of study.

Paragraph 2. For the purpose of compliance with this Law, the Ministry of Education shall open, in its Diploma Registration and Transcript Authentication Section, the Book of Professional Journalists Registered in the Republic of Panama.

Said Ministry shall adopt the necessary organic and administrative measures to ensure the custody and permanent maintenance of the aforementioned registry, including the issuance of appropriate certification of professional accreditation of journalists.

Article 8. Non-Panamanian journalists may work for a national medium as a professional or technician, only when such work cannot be performed by duly registered Panamanian professionals, and for a period not to exceed one (1) year. They shall present the indispensable *5 credentials and academic degrees and comply with immigration and labor laws.

Article 9. Persons who are members of journalistic professional organizations and/or have practiced the profession for more than ten (10) years previous to the effective date of this law, may be registered in the Journalistic Profession Registration Book. This practice shall be accredited before the Higher Journalism Council, by means of certificates issued by natural or corporate persons who shall have served in the capacity of employers of the applicant and which shall demonstrate that the conditions for being considered a colleague have been satisfied as required herein.

Provisional Paragraph. After one (1) year from the promulgation of this law, only professional journalists, graduated from specialized universities, whether domestic or foreign, may be accredited as professional journalists.

Article 10. The requirement for qualification as a profession journalists, under the terms of this Law, shall extend to those who participate in the production of content for electromagnetic media, as well as to photographers and video camera operators and all other personnel who shall, as technological requirements progress, become necessary for the publication of information. *6

Title III
On the legal liability of those in charge of journalistic enterprises

Article 11. The positions bearing legal responsibility for what is promulgated by the media shall be held by persons of Panamanian nationality, who shall not enjoy any privilege or immunity.

Title IV
On the rights of journalists

Article 12. As a profession legally practiced with the Republic of Panama, journalism shall be covered by the applicable norms of labor legislation in all respects.

Article 13. The affiliation of journalists with professional associations *7 or organizations of an associational nature is a discretionary right of an individual nature, and shall not be imposed or demanded as an obligation for exercise of the profession.

Article 14. A journalist has the right, and the moral obligation, to act according to his or her conscience. Consequently, journalistic enterprises and/or employers may not apply sanctions for failure to comply with this professional morality.

Article 15. A journalist may demand withdrawal of his or her name as author of an informational text he or she may have prepared, when he or she considers that the latter, after having been edited by the respective medium, conflicts with the [standards of] professional judgment and or conscience applied at the moment of its having been produced.

Title V
On the Higher Journalism Council

Article 16. The Higher Journalism Council is created and shall consist of the several *8 representatives of the professional journalistic organizations which shall have been legally incorporated *9 in the country. Said collective organizations shall permit any professional to have access to the profession, and shall place no limitations on membership beyond the requirements for the practice of journalism. Each representative shall have an alternate.

Paragraph. Persons elected as representatives of the Higher Journalism Council shall carry out their functions for the term of one year and may be reelected for one additional year.

Provisional paragraph. The organizations initially integrated in the Council shall be the Union of Journalists, the College of Journalists, the Chiriquí Journalists’ Association, the Colon Journalists’ Circle, and the Journalists’ Association of Western Panama.

Article 17. The National Director of Social Communications Media of the Ministry of Government and Justice *10 shall be charged with administering the Council and shall serve as its Secretary, with the right to take the floor.

Article 18. The Higher Journalism Council shall have the following functions:

a. Oversee compliance with this law;

b. issue, in conformity with the Registry covered by Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of this law, an identification card to professional journalists;

c. accredit those correspondents and journalists of the foreign press who have temporary assignments in the country;

d. prosecute or denounce to prosecutors *11 cases of violation of journalistic ethics and establish the sanctions of a moral nature that shall be applied to those responsible, according to internal regulations to be established to ensure effective functioning.

Paragraph. The Higher Journalism Council shall have six (6) months from the promulgation of this law to issue the internal regulations specified in clause e of article 19.

Title VI
One the public nature of information

Article 19. Public officials, in their capacity as sources of information and in conformity with what has been established by Article 41 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama, shall facilitate the practice of journalism, supplying immediate access to information requested by journalists or communications media.

Article 20. A journalist who, or communications medium that, has not received a reply shall request from the Office of the Defender of the People *12 the imposition of a sanction for contumacy. *13 Said agency shall maintain a record of such circumstances.

Article 21. The professional organizations represented on the Higher Journalism Council may adopt their own codes of ethics.

These shall contain at least the following requirements, which are hereby established as a code of professional ethics, and which shall govern the conduct of those who exercise the practice of journalism in the Republic of Panama.

Article 22. The dignity of the profession, and service to society, require that journalists comply with the following ethical code:

a. In obtaining informational material, journalisms shall only use legitimate and transparent methods and means. This requirement applies to the gathering of documents, graphic material, and any other data intended to constitute or serve as a basis for information.

b. The public has the right to the truth. A journalist shall not publish any version thereof without also making known other truths gathered as part of his or her labors.

c. A journalist shall confirm news received from any source, compare it with other versions, taking pains to make it complete and ensuring that everything is in order to enable the public to receive the most precise description of the fact reported.

d. The journalist shall respect the privacy of persons and protect their honor and dignity. Reference shall be made to private facts when there is a powerful reason of public interest.

e. To shield oneself with anonymity and to rely thereupon to distort or hide the truth of the pacts, and to go beyond the material evidence established by the news gathering effort, is reprehensible conduct which violates journalistic ethics;

f. All erroneous information shall be corrected by the respective journalist, regardless of whether this has been requested by the affected party;

g. Journalists shall protect the identify of their news sources, on the condition that they shall not do so for the purpose of fraud or manipulation. In the exercise of their newsgathering labors, journalists may encounter material which is to be entrusted to them as confidential information. If it shall be accepted as such, the journalist shall not violate this confidentiality, unless concealment would involve the concealment of criminal acts subject to investigation, judgment or sanction by law. In such cases, he or she shall refrain from accepting it or agreeing to the condition.

h. Journalistic confidentiality is a privilege intended to benefit not the journalist, but rather informational sources. A judicial order to a journalist to reveal sources shall only become effective in an evident case of punishable crime covered by the penal code. Even then, a journalist may not be shielded by the protection of sources in order to avoid being sanctioned for false information. If he or she does so, he or she abuses his right and commits an offense against the dignity of the profession.

i. A source who fails to comply with an agreement of confidential identity frees the journalist from the obligation of complying therewith.

j. The public interest in facts published by the journalist obliges him or her to exclude any private interest or the interest of the medium served. If such exists, the public has the right to be informed of the existence of such a related interests.

k. A journalist may not receive gifts or other forms of remuneration for hiding facts or publishing lies.

l. A journalist is obliged to inform the journalistic enterprise of any other employment agreement into which he or she enters, and to obtain authorization therefore from the employer.

m. The public interest function performed by journalists justifies requiring that their personal income shall be disclosed to the public.

n. The simultaneous practice of journalism and public relations is an irreconcilable ethical conflict.

o. To safeguard the originality of and respect for the work of other journalists, plagiarism is prohibited, as is the copying or appropriation of the labor or work of others. In this sense, the normal moral and legal requirements of copyright shall apply.

p. As a member of society and member of a profession involving the public interest, journalists will pursue continual professional improvement, which shall be reflected in the quality of their information based on their continuous exercise of the profession.

q. In the performance of their professional duties, journalists shall observe the same moral conduct which is required of all individuals.

This law revokes Law 67 of the 19th of September, 1978, and any other statutory provision inconsistent herewith.

Article 24. This law shall become effective upon promulgation.

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Translator's footnotes

1 Certain legal terms and the language of some statutes can be difficult to translate. This bill uses the term información in various forms, some of which might be confusing to the English reader if translated as “information.” I have used either “information” or “news” as seemed appropriate.

2 “a la cual corresponde”

3 “proyección oportuna y suficiente” (Meaning?—Transl.)

4 defunción. (Meaning in this sense?—Transl.).

5 Not otherwise specified. Presumably the ministry would determine what are the “indispensable” credentials.

6 It is not clear to the translator, however, who is considered a journalist under the law. For example, it is silent on the subject of unpaid (“op-ed”) contributors, regular columnists, independent or freelance writers, re-write people, copy editors, etc. It is also silent on the subject of whose work may be published, as opposed to who may be employed.

7 Gremios. This could be a guild, a labor union, or an association. Translated here as “professional association,” with the intended implication of an association having the attributes of a labor organization.

8 sendos

9 Literally, “granted judicial personality”

10 This ministry, on the model of a Continental Ministry of the Interior, administers law enforcement (but not prosecution) as well as local government, hence the first part of the name. Since provincial governors, the alcaldes of cities and rural counties, and village magistrates (corregidores) also perform judicial and appellate functions in criminal and civil matters, the ministry combines the names and functions of two branches of government which are separated in the U.S. system. The same ministry also manages through its bureaus police and administrative functions for the central government, other examples of which are immigration and naturalization, regulation of the press, etc.

11 “Instruir de oficio o por medio de denuncia. . .”

12 The office of the public “ombudsman,” not the “Public Defender,” as understood, for example, in the US. The current ombudsman recently expressed support for more stringent control of the press.

13 A form of legal contempt.

 

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