Reporter gunned down in northern Peru

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Reporter gunned down in northern Peru
(AFP) – 6 hours ago

LIMA — A reporter who openly criticized regional government officials in northwestern Peru has been killed in a hail of gunfire, a Latin American press watchdog group has said.

Julio Castillo Narvaez, who headed the newscast at Radio Ollantay in the northern city of Viru, was a fierce critic of regional authorities, the Lima-based Press and Society Institute (IPYS) said.

On Tuesday a group of gunmen accosted Castillo, 41, as he was leaving a Viru restaurant after lunch and shot him six times, then fled the scene.

Police say the hitmen were likely hired guns.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5guS4MtjH-UEcR0QImxAOpgEaMKpA?docId=CNG.55f0da6b0832923a420f0af08b851e4c.31

[Judi Lynn]

1. AP: Hosted by Back to Google NewsPeruvian radio reporter who alleged corruption by local offici

Hosted by Back to Google NewsPeruvian radio reporter who alleged corruption by local official shot dead while eating lunch
By Carla Salazar, The Associated Press – 7 hours ago

LIMA, Peru — Gunmen shot to death a provincial Peruvian radio journalist who was outspoken in accusing local and regional officials of corruption, a national journalists group said Wednesday.

Four gunmen fired on Julio Cesar Castillo, 41, from close range as he ate lunch at a restaurant in Viru, a town in the northern coastal province of La Libertad, the National Association of Journalists said in a statement.

~snip~
Castillo had a news program on the local station Ollantay and was a fierce critic of officials whom he accused of corruption, Mejia said.

The Peruvian journalist association's statement said Castillo had been receiving death threats since March after broadcasting a recording that implicated a top regional official in acts of corruption.

More:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5i5FJNlS54NdHUXclkKmk34UujEhA?docId=6758182

[Judi Lynn]

2. Journalists resign after being pressured to stop criticising presidential candidate

3 May 2011
Journalists resign after being pressured to stop criticising presidential candidate

(IPYS/IFEX) - On 27 April 2011, journalists Federico Rosaldo, Jesús Coa and Jorge Álvarez chose to resign from their positions at the Líder radio station, rather than comply with an order issued by the station's owner, Santiago Ortiz. Ortiz had instructed the journalists to stop criticising presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori. The incident occurred in Arequipa, southern Peru.

The journalists co-presented a morning news program until, according to Coa, Ortiz phoned him to "order" them to stop referring negatively to Fujimori. The station owner said "he was in the process of negotiating an advertising contract with (Fujimori's) political group."

Rosado, the program's director, spoke with Ortiz on 26 April. He told IPYS that the station owner was firm in his position on the issue. As a result, Rosado and his team chose to resign, informing his listeners of his motives a day later.

IPYS notes that this is not the first incident of this kind at radio Líder. On previous occasions, the journalists were even informed, through notes posted on the broadcasting cabin's walls, which politicians advertised through the station, meaning that these officials could not be "ill-treated" in the news reports broadcast on the station.

http://www.ifex.org/peru/2011/05/03/radio_lider_journalists_resign/