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East Timor's proposed media laws labelled 'dangerous' by journalists' union
ABC Radio Australia - March 4, 2014
A provision for a press council to decide who can be a journalist has attracted particular criticism. The government, however, says its draft press law will guarantee, protect and regulate journalistic activities in East Timor.
Journalist union president Jose Belo says there is concern government control will curtail press freedom.
"It's a very dangerous law," Mr Belo said. "It gives power to a media council to control the journalist and media in East Timor. "We hope that the government and the parliament listen to these concerns and change it."
The media law was drafted last August and is now before a parliamentary committee which is accepting submissions from professionals and community members.
East Timor Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis (La'o Hamutuk) researcher, Charles Scheiner, believes the law could breach the country's constitution by limiting access to information for people or institutions deemed not to be journalists.
"This law would, by implication, say that only designated people, full time professional journalists for commercial media outlets who are certified by a body called the Press Council, only those people would have access," he said.
Mr Scheiner says the proposed changes do not address some of the issues the East Timor media face.
"The problems in the media are structural, largely, and passing a law saying you have to be on a list but not raising the salaries, not changing the economic dynamics of the newspapers where most of [the] money comes from paid public announcements by government, that is not going to be changed by a fact of law," he said.
Fears for press freedom
If the law is passed, a press council will be established to impose fines for breaches. Attacks on the freedom of the press, including by a public official, could also result in prison terms.
The council will be funded by the government but will be independent. Its powers extend to stipulating the educational standards necessary to be licensed as a journalist.
It defines and limits a journalist as someone employed by a media organisation, ignoring the contribution of freelancers and student publications, and excluding social media. Mr Scheiner says he is concerned the new measures will exclude international reporters.
"Given that the long history of foreign journalists who have even lost their lives, including the Balibo Five, but there are others, it's a denial of Timor Leste history," he said.
"And in a way a downgrading of the value of free journalism. I mean journalism was also used by the leaders of this country, the current leaders Jose Ramos-Horta and Xanana Gusmao among them advocating for independence from Portugal.
"Those type of things would not be permitted anymore because they're not full time professional journalists working for a commercial organisations and an approved by a government supported council."
The ABC has tried to contact government representatives for clarification, without success.
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