The most common ethical framework for the Chilean media is the Freedom of Opinion and Information and Exercise of Journalism Act(Ministry Secretary General, 2013). Promulgated in 2001, it established the rights and duties for the exercise of journalism in the country. For instance, it assures the right to keep sources a secret, provides a regulatory framework for media ownership and functioning, and gives journalists the right to clarify and rectify. There is also a section that affects the exercise of journalism by establishing a regulatory framework for infractions, criminal offenses, responsibilities, and how to proceed in these cases; it also has a concrete definition of defamation.
This act, however, does not incorporate ombudspersons, ethical tribunals, or other content-regulating organisations, which happens only on the level of televised contents with the law creating the National Council for Television (Ministry of Interior, 2017). Modifications of the law over the years have given this entity the role of overseeing what is broadcast on television, with the possibility of receiving complaints from citizens and fining the broadcasters. The mission of the council, among other aspects, is to promote pluralism and respect for the diversity of society. In practice, some content effectively accumulates complaints and fines; the concerned stations pay the fines and some programming is adapted or cancelled, but the latter is unusual.
Another entity working with media ethics in Chile is the Ethics Council of the Federation of Media (Ethics Council, 2020), created by the Association of Radio Broadcasters of Chile, National Association of Television, and the National Press Association. This institution advises on the content published or broadcast by the three federated entities. While it can analyse cases from different media organisations, their main objective is self-regulation, with an emphasis on prevention. They receive complaints through their website and their sanctions are moral – they publish the resolution of the case in the same medium. This council avoids judgment except for cases where ethical violations are evident.
Furthermore, the National Journalism Association (Colegio de Periodistas, 2020) is an association with voluntary membership, where every journalist in Chile can participate. It has its own ethics code, whose norms only apply to collegiate journalists, and if broken, might lead to sanctions after an evaluation from the corresponding Ethics and Discipline Regional and National Tribunals. However, in the interviews, journalists and editors unanimously declared they did not consider this entity as a referent, since it attacked journalists more than supporting them. However, a representative of the national journalism association said about their code of ethics:
I would like to believe that the document is used in newsrooms. However, honestly, I know that it is not. When we receive ethical complaints, we enquire with journalists if they have read our guidelines and most often, they are not familiar with them. Maybe the older generations knew it better.
As for professional development, alongside universities offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in journalism, there are several extending and continuing education programmes for professionals. There is also a network of journalists, which promotes conversation and workshops about the professional exercise, and the National Association of Women Journalists, which organises events and activities.
