Two journalists who were fired April 20 by the TV station Canal N, owned by El Comercio, say they were punished for not supporting presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, Los Andes reports.
According to La Primera Perú, Canal N producers Patricia Montero and José Jara said they were fired for “not following the editorial line of supporting Fujimori and attacking [presidential candidate Ollanta] Humala.”
“Over the last three or four weeks, journalists…have suffered pressure from the owners. There is not a written directive, but there have been insinuations and pressure to hold to an editorial line in support of Keiko Fujimori,” said Montero, in an interview with El Mundo.
The Press and Society Institute (IPYS) called on the directors of El Comercio to “maintain its independence” during the electoral campaign.
The first round of voting took place April 10, and the runoff between Humala and Fujimori is scheduled for June 5.
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.
