By Maira Magro
A proposed law that will be debated in Paraguay's House of Representatives would establish community radio stations as those with signal strength between 50 and 300 watts, and would prohibit them from receiving funding from state or private advertising. The Paraguayan Journalists Union rejected the measure, calling the restrictions arbitrary.
The goal of the bill is to combat pirate radio stations. But according to the union, the restrictions on financing for community radio stations goes against the principles of “diversity in broadcasting," “legitimate access to advertising," and “diversity in sources of information."
The bill would amend six articles of the Telecommunications law. The House of Representatives will study the proposed changes in coming days, reported Última Hora.
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.
