Government of Timor-Leste

The Secretary of State for Social Communication, Merício Juvenal dos Reis "Akara", held a meeting with media organizations owners to talk about the real conditions of the sector that limit their activity. The meeting took place on September 13, 2018, at the Government Palace in Dili.

The media organization owners presented the difficulties they face in areas such as the level of funding, infrastructure, human resources, equipment and salaries of journalists.

Merício "Akara" stated that for the Government, the media continues to be a strategic partner in the country's democratization process, mainly in promoting transparency and dissemination to citizens, especially young people, of effective, inspiring and motivating information that helps them to improve their life plan.

The Director of the Business-Timor newspaper, José Ximenes, said he was concerned about the situation of some media outlets, which have begun to reduce the number of pages and their staff, namely journalists, and therefore considered necessary that media owners and directors and the Government work together to seek solutions to overcome these difficulties.

The meeting was attended by representatives of TV station GMN and newspapers Timor Post, Business Timor, STL and Independente.