Blog
Newspaper editors protest Puerto Rican governor’s advertising boycott of San Juan newspaper
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 04/21/1997 16:23:00
- In: Freedom of the press
RESTON, Va. The American Society of Newspaper Editors has asked Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello to rescind his action that ordered state agencies to cancel their advertising in the San Juan daily El Nuevo Dia because the governor didn’t like news stories published by the daily.
RESTON, Va. The American Society of Newspaper Editors has asked Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Rossello to rescind his action that ordered state agencies to cancel their advertising in the San Juan daily El Nuevo Dia because the governor didn’t like news stories published by the daily.
According to El Nuevo Dia editors, Gov. Rossello ordered state agencies to withhold their advertising because he was displeased by investigative stories the newspaper published, particularly those that focused on the Puerto Rico Telephone Company.
In a letter to Gov. Rossello, ASNE President Sandra Mims Rowe stated:
On behalf of the more than 800 members of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), I wish to express my alarm and concern over reports that the government agencies of Puerto Rico have been ordered to withhold advertising from El Nuevo Dia as a result of the newspaper's excellent series of investigative articles outlining possible corruption and mismanagement of several local government agencies.
ASNE urges you to immediately rescind this misguided decision. An attempt to intimidate the press through an economic boycott or any other means is obviously inconsistent with the American ideas of a free and independent press.
In an ideal world, ASNE believes the newspapers of Puerto Rico would be better off without a significant segment of their advertising coming from the government, but this is certainly not the way we believe this situation should be resolved.
Rowe is editor of The Oregonian, Portland.
The American Society of Newspaper Editors, with 870 members, is an organization of the main editors of daily newspapers in the United States and Canada. Founded in 1922, ASNE’s principal purpose is to serve as a medium for exchange of ideas and the professional growth and development of its members.