An Argentine journalist received a death threat by an unknown gunman while trying to enter the radio studio where the journalist works, in the city of 9 de Julio, in the province of Buenos Aires, reported the newspaper Perfil.
On Tuesday, May 29, journalist Gustavo Tinetti was threatened as he was about to start his radio program “Wake Up” that is aired on the station Cadena Nueve. The journalist recently had reported on alleged tax evasion by local Mayor Walter Battistella, according to the news channel TN, and the news outlet Bragado Informa.
According to the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish), although news on the threat spread rapidly in the 9 de Julio community, Tinetti said he was surprised that “he wasn't contacted by a public official after the news of the threat was spread.”
“Argentine authorities must fully investigate these threats and ensure that provincial journalists can report critically without fear of reprisal,” said Carlos Lauría, senior coordinator of the Americas program of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). According to a CPJ investigation, the majority of press freedom violations in Argentina during 2011 originated in the province of Buenos Aires.
The press freedom situation in Argentina has come under attack lately, not only by journalism organizations, such as the International Press Institute, the Inter American Press Association, the Argentine Association of Journalistic Entities, and FOPEA, but also by the U.S. government and by Argentine journalists themselves.
