“Pressure from big media must not endanger proposed media law”
“Pressure from big media must not endanger proposed media law”
Published on Tuesday 9 July 2013
Reporters Without Borders supports a proposed broadcast media law, known as the SCA or Ley de Medios, which Uruguay’s Chamber of Deputies began considering on 22 May and which is due to be submitted to the Senate by the end of the year.
The media freedom organization therefore regrets the pressure that some media groups have recently been exercising in an attempt to delay or block adoption of this bill, which could weaken their dominant position.
The provisions and goals of Uruguay’s SCA recall those of Argentina’s SCA, which we supported in principle although its implementation continues to held up by a regrettable climate of polarization between the government and some privately-owned media.
Uruguay has so far avoided similar polarization and we hope that examination of this bill will not provide any pretext.
The dominant broadcast media groups are hostile to the proposed law, which would promote less concentrated ownership. Last week, the owners of Channels 4, 10 and 12 boycotted the digital broadcast licence allocation process until the last day, 8 July, although they had been assured that their licences would be renewed.
More:
http://en.rsf.org/uruguay-pressure-from-big-media-must-not-09-07-2013,44908.html
