Attacks against the press in Argentina rose 250 percent in 2012 over the previous year, according a report by Fundación LED, the Freedom of Expression + Democracy Foundation, reported the newspaper Clarín. According to the study, there were 371 cases restricting free expression in the country, added the newspaper.
The report categorizes eight different types of attacks against the press from limiting access to public information to acts of censorship and attacks against journalists, reported the news agency EFE.
The report references specific cases of press workers, added EFE, including a million-dollar lawsuit filed by a public official against journalists for Clarín and América TV for their reporting into "irregularities during his term." The study also mentions the case of Néstor Dib, of CN5, who was attacked on air while covering a protest against the government, among others.
In Argentina "there is a sustained increase in attacks against the press because of how those in power see journalism, as a hazard and an enemy to conquer," said the president of Fundación LED to the Associated Press.
The Foundation also cited statistics from the Argentine Journalism Forum, which recorded 130 attacks against the press in the first nine months of 2012, marking a 51 percent increase over the year before, added EFE.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
