Friday, March 28, 2008 Editorial: Journalists' stand on pending bills
MEDIA practitioners in free and democratic nations brave the risks and dangers that are traditional companions of the profession.
Journalists who are true to their calling thrive, however, in this kind of circumstance.
Still, concerned nations are aware that a sense of responsibility must accompany the enjoyment of the freedom of speech and of the press.
The possibility of abuse in the exercise of such freedom is an accepted reality.
Hence, governments set legal limits to such exercise and put up certain safeguards to protect the people’s interests and rights.
These have come in the form of libel laws.
They offer an avenue for redress to persons who believe they were unjustly treated in news stories published or broadcast on radio and TV.
Resolutions
However, it has been pointed out that certain provisions in our libel laws appear unfair and unjust to practicing journalists.
These include giving the plaintiff the right to file their complaint in any place in the country where newspaper circulation or radio/TV broadcast is presumed to reach.
This offers the plaintiff a tool for harassing, say, the publisher, editor and reporter.
Toward this end, the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) recently approved two resolutions expressing its stand “on pending bills in the House and Senate that affect the media.”
Amendment
The first resolution “supports proposals to amend libel laws, including removal of jail term as penalty and change of venue of libel,” such that any libel filed should be in the area where the radio/TV or newspaper is located.
The second resolution opposes the proposals on economic benefits, to which were attached provisions for regulations of media through a code of standards and ethics issued by the press secretary and by a media coordinating council composed mostly of government representatives.
The notion of a government-formulated regulation through a code of standards and ethics is tantamount to government curtailment of press freedom.
Likewise, CCPC supports “keeping libel as a crime under the Revised Penal Code; removing the jail term from libel and limiting penalty to a fine, limiting the venue of libel…to the principal office of business…and reducing its prescriptive period from one year to six months.”
In sum, the CCPC’s stand is designed to generate a wholesome relationship between media, the government, and the public.
