In response to government attempts to approve laws regulating the press, the Brazilian National Association of Newspapers (ANJ in Portuguese) launched on May 26 a self-regulation program, reported Folha de S. Paulo.
The goal of the program, according to Estadão, is for media outlets to create internal self-regulation plans to improve relationships with readers and increase transparency. Among the measures proposed by ANJ are the creation of an ombudsman position in all media outlets, the publication of letters to the editor, recognition of errors, and the creation of editorial councils that would direct the media outlet's editorial stance.
Judith Brito, president of ANJ, said the measures would strengthen press freedom while at the same time demanding more responsibility of the press, Globo said..
Panelists at the International Forum on Press Freedom and Judicial Power defended the initiative as a way to fill the legislative vacuum left after the end of the press law in 2009, and reduce the judicial right of reply, according to the Federal Supreme Court's website.
Researchers and scholars have called on journalists, the academy and social movements to participate in the creation of press coverage parameters.
At the beginning of 2011, UNESCO published in Brazil studies about self-regulation of the media and freedom of expression, where self-regulation was highlighted as an alternative to government control.
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Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
