The Council of the Lebanese Press Editors Union held an extraordinary meeting, chaired by President Joseph Al Kossaifi and attended by members and the union's legal advisors, Anton El Haweys and Kristel Choueiry.
The meeting focused on discussing the proposed media law that the joint parliamentary committees referred to the General Assembly of the Parliament. The council decided as follows:
- The union council rejects the proposal in form, content, and timing due to its lack of a national media vision. It fails to protect workers in the profession and does not transform it into a productive sector linked to the national economic cycle. More concerning is that the proposal permits the imprisonment of journalists in some of its provisions. The union fears this is the main goal of the proposal: to undermine the profession and restrict freedoms.
In light of this, and in honor of the sacrifices made by journalists and media professionals, and the blood of their martyrs, the Lebanese Press Editors Union urgently demands the withdrawal of the current proposal and its return to the Media and Communications Committee for further study.
The union is ready to present a comprehensive vision for a genuine national media and specific proposals through a complete legislative project that embodies this approach, which should be reflected in the forthcoming law. Unfortunately, previous observations by the union were not considered.