In a statement released on Friday, Sept. 7, the Chilean state newspaper's union announced the government's decision to close La Nación, according to the AFP.
"Once again, the common people, the citizens, were shut out of the distribution of power and resources, this time regarding an historic publication," read the statement, according to the AFP.
The Chilean government decided to call a shareholders' meeting on Sept. 24, to discuss, among other things, the closure of the newspaper La Nación, according to Radio U Chile.
The Union of Chilean Journalists said that the closure of the newspaper "is the culmination of an attack on press freedom" that Chilean President Sebastián Piñera has waged since his election, reported La Nación. According to the Union of Chilean Journalists, Piñera campaigned on the promise to close La Nación if he won the election, the website added.
Since 2010, La Nación's only distribution was online after Piñera canceled its print edition, citing economic concerns. That same year, the Union of Chilean Journalists proposed transforming the newspaper, which is 70 percent owned by the state, into an autonomous public media outlet with mixed financing.
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.
