The government promised this Wednesday, April 16, to submit the proposed media and broadcasting laws for debate in Parliament, indicating that this is a commitment to improve the legal framework.
“The government will submit, after updating and harmonizing with the different stakeholders, the draft media and broadcasting laws that had already been deposited in the Assembly of the Republic and were not considered in the ninth legislature,” said Prime Minister Maria Benvinda Levi during the annual meeting of Sociedade do Notícias, owner of Jornal Notícias, the oldest daily newspaper in the country.
The Prime Minister acknowledged the importance of the media in strengthening democratic debate and in guaranteeing fundamental freedoms, which is why she promised the Executive’s commitment to improving the legal framework for the media.
On the same occasion, Levi called on the media’s socio-professional associations to introduce the journalist’s professional card as a way of enhancing the profession, as well as improving the licensing mechanisms of the media, the aim of which is to protect “the noblest values of professional activity”.
In 2021, at least five civil society organizations asked parliament to remove various aspects of the proposed broadcasting and media law, considering them unconstitutional and a danger to the right to information and freedom of the press.
Parliament has been trying to debate the bills for years, which aim to adapt the legal framework for the media to the changes that the country has undergone since the approval of the press law, which has been in force since 1991.
