Ética Periodística a Principios del Siglo XXI - Monitorando

The author also emphasizes the changes sustained over time, their power and
strength and the absence of punishment that currently exists in Portuguese legal
framework in case the duty of hearing the Newsroom Councils is not verified
(CARVALHO et al., 2005 cit. in FIDALGO, J., 2009). Therefore, their existence and
effectiveness is related to the intention and accessibility of directors and it is more
dependent on what the author calls professional culture as something that constrains
free enterprise of the owners (FIDALGO, J., 2009: p. 386). There are various
mechanisms of regulation but its legitimacy, strength and effectiveness are often
questioned (FIDALGO, J. & OLIVEIRA, M., 2008: p. 209), which enhances criticisms
and judgments about journalists’ activity:
Only illusionary immune to the public eye, media have, as many sustain,
enjoyed a certain degree of impunity. Accused of spectacular and privacy
disrespect, of encouraging public judgment, of lack of rigor, of accelerating
information and of partiality, journalists are often targets of criticism and
accusation (ibidem).
On the other hand, economic and competitive imperatives can lead to the loss of
fundamental rights and freedoms, not only of the professionals of information but also
of the public, deflecting consequences on both sides of the communicative process:
The right of journalists to participate in these orientations [of
professional and editorial nature] - the guarantee of their “internal freedom” –
is, according to Carvalho et al. (2005: 284), to preserve values of informative
pluralism, because it allows “the transformation of each media in a more
diverse forum” compensating for instance “the negative effects of the
concentration phenomenon” (FIDALGO, J., 2009: p. 386).
In the Portuguese context, there is a principle of separation between business
matter and editorial matter (ERC, 2009: p. 11) and this is an interesting observation
from the state media regulatory entity. The regulator also stressed that the TVI’s
administration incurred in an illegal act that was harmful for the Information Directorate
and for that journalists’ network. Furthermore, the resignation act of João Maia Abreu
could have been unnecessary since law protects him from obeying orders from someone
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