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Panama The Communications Media
The press, radio, and, more recently, the television of Panama
have a history of strong political partisanship and rather low
standards of journalistic responsibility. The government has
subsidized some news outlets and periodically censored others.
During most of the Torrijos era, the press and radio were tightly
controlled but, following the ratification of the Panama Canal
treaties, a significant degree of press freedom was restored. It
was at this time that the most significant opposition paper, La
Prensa, was founded.
Throughout the 1980s, conflicts between the government and the
opposition media, notably La Prensa, escalated. The
government and the FDP blamed La Prensa and its publisher,
Roberto Eisenmann Jr., for much of the negative publicity they
received in the United States. The paper was attacked, its writers
were harassed and, in 1986, Eisenmann fled to the United States,
charging that his life had been threatened.
Events in 1987 increased the level of conflict between the
government and the media. Strict censorship was instituted over all
newspapers and radio and television news broadcasts. In response,
three opposition papers suspended publication. Publication was
resumed in late June, but in July the government closed La
Prensa and the two other papers, as well as two radio stations.
The English-language Panama Star and Herald, the nation's
oldest newspaper, was forced out of business. The government
pressured remaining stations and newspapers to engage in selfcensorship and attempted to crack down on foreign press coverage,
expelling several correspondents. In October, President Delvalle
sent to the legislature a proposed press law that would have made
the publishing of "false, distorted, or inexact news" a crime for
which individual journalists would be held responsible. Even the
pro-government media attacked this proposal, which the legislature
rejected. Although there were indications that the opposition media
would be allowed to re-open in 1988, it seemed unlikely that
government efforts to control news coverage would cease.
Data as of December 1987
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