By Liliana Honorato
On Tuesday, June 12, the Argentine Journalism Forum applauded the new public information access in the Misiones Province of Argentina, which was approved on June 7 by the provincial congress, and said that this "means a significant step forward for freedom of expression, state transparency, and citizens' rights in democracy."
The Chamber of Deputies of Misiones also eliminated a controversial article that sanctioned those who “maliciously distorted information" provided by any governmental agency. The article had been highly criticized by the Press Forum of Misiones because it could put journalists in danger, reported the news outlets Misiones Online and Nea Rural.
Argentina doesn't have a national public information access law. During the end of 2011, Argentina was the only Latin American country that denied the Associated Press' information request as part of a 105 country project. The government cited "national security" as the reason for denying the information.
For more information, see this map with details about laws regarding freedom of information in Latin America, made by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
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.
