Last Monday was announced that the presidential communication team decided to make a selection of journalists that will accompany Michelle Bachelet on her tours inside Chile and abroad.
Until now, the trips have been available to all the journalists accredited by La Moneda, through open invitations to the medias.
According with the communication team, they took the decision after reviewing differents procedures adopted by other governments in relation to presidential tours, and also to reduce costs. Even though the journalists’ stay outlays on every trip have been always assumed by the medias.
In addition, the determination was supposedly taken due to a loss of confidence of the Executive with some journalists, thus, the government want to avoid awkward questions about plans and government programs.
On their behalf, the Association of Journalists didn’t embrace the idea with much enthusiasm and demanded to La Moneda the wording of a joint protocol in order to guarantee the access and diversity on the media coverage of the presidential tours.
This new measure was taken the same week in which Natalia Compagnon, daughter in law of president Michelle Bachelet will be send to trial, in the frame of the Caval case.
