By Adriana Prado
Journalists from A Tarde, one of the most important newspapers in the northeastern state of Bahia, went on strike to protest the firing of reporter Aguirre Peixoto, UOL Notícias reports.
The journalist was allegedly fired due to pressure from the real estate industry, who disliked some of his reporting on the sector, Dia Bahia reports. Peixoto had written several articles alleging irregularities in the construction of a technology park in the state capital of Salvador.
The Bahia State Professional Journalists’ Syndicate (SINJORBA) protested A Tarde’s decision. Peixoto “is already the target of judicial, criminal, and civil challenges for his courage in denouncing mistakes and attacks against the environment in the city of Salvador,” said Marjorie Moura, the president of SINJORBA, quoted by Bahia Toda Hora. The “final blow,” she says, is that he was fired by A Tarde itself, “the company that initially authorized the publication of the stories and should have protected him completely as to not dishonor its almost century-old history.”
Critics also include the Bahia section of the Brazilian Press Association, which called the firing “unwarranted,” and many users on Twitter.
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.
