Brazil bill would empower council to ban journalists

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AP , RIO DE JANEIRO
Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004,Page 7

Lawmakers are considering a proposal by the president to regulate journalism through a council that could strip media workers of their credentials. Critics have blasted the measure as an attack on press freedom.

Earlier this month, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent Congress a proposal to create a Federal Journalism Council. According to the draft legislation, the council would "orient, discipline and oversee the practice of the journalistic profession."

The council's duties would include punishing journalists found to have committed "irregularities" with penalties ranging from censure to suspension and revocation of professional credentials. To work legally as a journalist in Brazil, a person must have a degree in journalism and professional accreditation.

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