Miami (February 7, 2003) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has chosen
Anthony Lewis, former columnist for The New York Times, as the recipient of this
years Chapultepec Grand Prize. This is the fifth time the award will be
given in recognition for an individuals work and commitment to promoting
and disseminating the principles of the Declaration of Chapultepec.
Mr. Lewis was a columnist for The New York Times since 1969. He has twice won
the Pulitzer Prize: in 1955 for a series of articles on the dismissal of a Navy
employee and in 1963 for coverage of the Supreme Court. He worked at The New
York Times office in London. He was a lecturer on Law at the Harvard Law School
for fifteen years, teaching a course on The Constitution and the Press. He is
author of three books: Gideons Trumpet, Portrait of a Decade and Make
No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment. He attended the Horace Mann
School in New York and Harvard College. Since 1973 he has been living in Boston.
Lewis will be honored in a private ceremony to take place later this year.
Prior recipients of the Chapultepec Grand Prize include: Federico Mayor Zaragoza,
former director-general of the Paris-based UNESCO (United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization); Arthur O. Sulzberger, Chairman Emeritus
of The New York Times Company; Dana Bullen, former Executive Director of the
World Press Freedom Committee; Jorge Santistevan, former Human Rights Ombudsman
in Peru; and Claudio Grossman, ex-President of the OASs Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights.
The declaration, which has been endorsed by thousands of individuals - from
private citizens to heads of governments (29 thus far) - advocates ten fundamental
principles for assuring freedom of expression and of the press. These are:
1. No people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of the
press. The exercise of this freedom is not something authorities grant, it is
an inalienable right of the people.
2. Every person has the right to seek and receive information, express opinions
and disseminate them freely. No one may restrict or deny these rights.
3. The authorities must be compelled by law to make available in a timely and
reasonable manner the information generated by the public sector. No journalist
may be forced to reveal his or her sources of information.
4. Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism,
kidnapping, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction
of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts
must be investigated promptly and punished harshly.
5. Prior censorship, restrictions on the circulation of the media or dissemination
of their reports, forced publication of information, the imposition of obstacles
to the free flow of news, and restrictions on the activities and movements of
journalists directly contradict freedom of the press.
6. The media and journalists should neither be discriminated against nor favored
because of what they write or say.
7. Tariff and exchange policies, licenses for the importation of paper or news-gathering
equipment, the assigning of radio and television frequencies and the granting
or withdrawal of government advertising may not be used to reward or punish
the media or individual journalists.
8. The membership of journalists in guilds, their affiliation to professional
and trade associations and the affiliation of the media with business groups
must be strictly voluntary.
9. The credibility of the press is linked to its commitment to truth, to the
pursuit of accuracy, fairness and objectivity and to the clear distinction between
news and advertising. The attainment of these goals and the respect for ethical
and professional values may not be imposed. These are the exclusive responsibility
of journalists and the media. In a free society, it is public opinion that rewards
or punishes.
10. No news medium nor journalist may be punished for publishing the truth
or criticizing or denouncing the government.
FUENTE: nota.texto7
