ARGENTINA
II
WHEREAS
an international delegation from the IAPA, in fulfillment of a resolution passed
by its most recent General Assembly, traveled to the city of Neuquén,
in the province of the same name, in early March
WHEREAS
this delegation met with the provincial governor, the chief justice of the Supreme
Court, legislators from all blocs in the provincial legislature, the bishop
of the Catholic Church and pastor of the Methodist Church, representatives of
chambers of commerce and civic groups, executives and journalists from newspapers
that circulate in the province, and journalists representing the Journalists’
Union of Neuquén
WHEREAS
the delegation gathered information and confirmed that the executive branch
in the province has committed attacks and actions that curtail press freedom,
such as the selective refusal to provide information to the newspaper Río
Negro and other media outlets and journalists, the lack of access to government
information, and the discriminatory use of government advertising to reward
and punish media outlets
WHEREAS
the documents submitted to the delegation by Governor Jorge Sobisch to refute
claims that government advertising is used in a discriminatory manner did not
furnish any evidence to counter the allegation that prompted the IAPA to send
a delegation
WHEREAS
a group of provincial legislators from the opposition provided the delegation
with information concerning a study of advertising placed by the provincial
government in local newspapers, and this study shows a discriminatory pattern
in placing government advertising in the newspaper Río Negro due to its
critical coverage of the government
WHEREAS
Article
7 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states, “Tariff and exchange policies,
licenses for the importation of paper or news-gathering equipment, the assigning
of radio and television frequencies and the granting or withdrawal of government
advertising may not be used to reward or punish the media or individual journalists
THE MIDYEAR
MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
to urge
the executive branch of Neuquén to implement a broad, open policy toward
the media that upholds freedom of information and respect for media professionals
to insist
to the executive branch of the province that government advertising should be
placed in accordance with objective guidelines that ensure the most efficient
use of taxpayers’ money and achieve the best possible results in pursuit
of advertising objectives, in such a way that the placement of advertising is
not used as a tool to reward or punish media outlets
to request
that provincial legislators pursue legislative initiatives designed to provide
and ensure access to public records held by government bodies in Neuquén
province.
