The 2020 National Assembly installed work commissions to review and reform the Law on the Exercise of Journalism, enacted in 1994 by the former National Congress.
The second vice president of the Permanent Commission of People’s Power and Communication, Carol Chavezaffirmed that the revision is necessary due to the “changing times” that are currently being experienced.
“The law dates from a time when journalism was done with typography and the edition had to be closed at midnight because there was no way to print it later,” Chavez explained in statements to Venezolana de Televisión.
He added: “Times have changed. Journalism is faster, it is more inclusive.”
At the moment, it did not offer details on which articles of the Law on the Exercise of Journalism might be modified.
“We’ll see. That is why these work commissions are being created. Proposals will be made from there. Everything that comes will be debates, discussion, contributions, proposals, and moving forward”, he concluded.
Journalism is one of the most risky In Venezuela. In the midst of the crisis and low wages, communicators are subjected to persecution, censorship and blockades of the media in which they work.
According to the Press and Society Institute of Venezuela (IPYS), “at least 41 reporters suffered violations in the exercise of their information freedoms in the country between January and June 27, 2022.”
The organization warns that “restrictions on access to information” constitute the majority of these violations, with 14 counted, followed by assaults and attacks, with 11 incidents, 7 stigmatizing speeches, one arbitrary detention, one forced disappearance and the opening of a criminal process.
While the National Association of Journalists, Caracas section, documented 86 attacks on the press between January 1 and June 23 of this year.
The school recorded 21 occasions in which news coverage was prevented, 13 campaigns to smear and criminalize journalists, 12 incidents of harassment, 11 acts of intimidation, 11 blockades of digital media, 5 thefts of work equipment and 4 closures of radio stations.