SANTIAGO.-The journalist Luis José Chávez exhorted communication professionals to take care of tourism, recalling that in the era of social networks, false, exaggerated or sensational news can damage the most important economic activity in the Dominican Republic.
Chávez, who was recently ratified as president of the Ibero-American Forum of Tourism Journalists (FIPETUR), affirmed that communicators should not hide the reality of a fact related to the industry, “but they should take care of what they say and how they say it.”
“From a legal point of view, journalists do not have any restrictions or conditions in the exercise of their professional work “but they do from an ethical point of view due to their commitment to society and the country.”
The journalistic leader stressed that tourism is the main economic platform in the country and with the greatest impact on job creation and wealth generation, since it is a fundamental ally of the agricultural sector, construction, manufacturing industry, the economy orange and air, land and sea transport.
He invited communicators from Santiago and the North Region to strengthen the tourism profile of their communities through a systematic work of dissemination and projection of the various attractions that the area has.
Chávez expressed his considerations when participating as a panelist in a forum on the role of the press in the management of a tourist destination, under the coordination of the journalists Mabel Andreini, director of the Northern Region of the Dominican Tourist Press Association, and Gladialisa Pereyra , general secretary of Adompretur Santiago.
The activity, the third convened by the North Regional Directorate of ADOMPRETUR in Mabel Andreini’s administration, was held at the headquarters of the Association for the Development of Santiago (APEDI), where the journalist José Rafael Sosa also spoke, who discussed the new coverage approaches to tourist destinations.
The activity was attended by the national president of Adompretur, Yenny Polanco Lovera; the president of Expo Turismo Santiago, Ramón Paulino; of the past general secretary of Adompretur Santiago, Yomaris Gómez; the general secretary of ADOMPRETUR Sosúa Cabarete, Daniel Mercado; and Colonel José Luis Collado, director of POLITUR Santiago, along with dozens of renowned communicators from the Ciudad Corazón.
Ethical approach to journalism
During his presentation, Luis José Chávez made special emphasis on the ethical approach of journalism and its relationship with tourism as a fundamental activity of the Dominican economy.
He pointed out that journalism can only be a profession to earn money, “but it can also be a powerful tool for change in society”, according to the definition of Gabriel García Márquez. “Being a journalist is having the privilege of changing something every day,” Chavez said when quoting the late Nobel Prize for Literature, author of the landmark novel “100 Years of Solitude.”
And he affirmed that the journalist is the professional best connected with society and with power, a condition that gives him extraordinary power to influence social, political and economic processes.
He explained that in the case of tourism, the Dominican Tourist Press Association (ADOMPRETUR) defines in its statutes the objectives that journalists must assume in the exercise of their specialized work, according to article 4 of its normative text.
ADOMPRETUR proposes to “Promote sustainable and inclusive tourism development in harmony with the social, environmental and cultural environment”; Support the dissemination of journalistic information on the values of tourism as an activity of human interest and promote the consolidation and diversification of the Dominican tourism product”; “Amplify the vision and commitment of the tourism press as a professional sector in the face of tourism issues and the development of the nation; and “Create awareness of the importance of the tourism industry as a strategic sector for the economic and social development of the country”, among other objectives.
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Luis José Chávez calls on the press to take care of tourism, the country’s main economic platform