While activists worldwide celebrated World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the violent death of a Peruvian radio journalist that same day was a stark reminder of the dangers faced by media workers. La República reports that Julio César Castillo Narváez was shot to death in the city of Virú, 340 miles to the northeast of Lima.
Castillo, a well-known radio host in the region, died instantly after being shot at least six times by four individuals in a restaurant, Radio Programas del Perú (RPP) explains.
According to RPP and Xinhua, since March, the journalist had been receiving constant threats from individuals linked to the regional government for airing corruption allegations.
A recent report by Peru’s National Journalists’ Association says it has already registered at least 82 acts of violence or intimidation against the country’s journalists in 2011
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.
