DILI, 31 july 2021 (TATOLI) – The former President of the Republic, Jose Ramos Horta, called on Timor-Leste’s national media platforms to ensure the integrity of journalism when covering the general elections – 2022 Presidential Election and 2023 Timorese Parliamentary Election.
“I call on all media in Timor-Leste to adhere to the deontological code for the journalistic profession to ensure the integrity of journalism, to not made-up stories,” Horta made the comments during delivering his words as a keynote speaker at the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Timor-Leste News Agency, TATOLI, in Dili, on Friday.
The 1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate disagreed with the ideas and critics of the public, by demanding the private media to be neutral in covering political parties’ campaigns during the elections period.
“I would like to say that, Tatoli, I.P and RTTL, E.P have to be neutral, as these two media platforms are public institutions. However, private media, such as GMN-TV, Tempo-Timor, and Timor-Post aren’t supposed to be neutral. I disagree with the notion of demanding private media to be neutral,” said Horta.
Horta stressed journalists shouldn’t make up things when writing news stories: “It means that when a political leader or a candidate says something and the journalists write something else. Sometimes, the title of a news story doesn’t match with the content.”
“We have freedom of expression. We are free to express our ideas, as well as media, including print, TV, and radio, are free to support their preferred candidate, but they all must stick to deontology of Journalism,” affirmed Horta.
He added journalists have the right to support any candidate, saying in the US, the New York Times, the Washington Post always support the Democrats, while others supporting the Republican Party: “But they always stick to the deontological code for the journalistic profession.”
Journalist : Antónia Gusmão
Editor : Ciprinao Colo
Translator : Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
