Protesters outside the city hall of the Argentine city of Córdoba threw rocks at a cameraman and freelance photographer on Wednesday, Jan. 9, reported the website Sin Mordaza. José Escuerdo, cameraman for Canal Doce, and Paul Amiune, freelance photographer were covering the demonstrations over a fare increase for urban passengers, added the website.
According to the website Análisis Digital, José Escuerdo was hospitalized after a rock that hit him cut a deep gash in his forehead. Rocks thrown at Amiune damaged his camera before striking him, reported the website.
Roxana Martínez, a reporter for Canal Doce who accompanied the team to the protest, told the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA in Spanish) that most of the rocks were thrown at police blockades but one group of demonstrators turned their aggression against the journalists documenting the event.
"When it became obvious that we were recording [the protest] and those present would have been recognized, they started to throw rocks at the camera operators and photographers too," Martínez said in an interview with ND. See a video of the interview and the coverage of the protest at the bottom of the post.
FOPEA denounced the attacks and demanded the authorities in Córdoba take the necessary steps to ensure the free and safe practice of journalism, according to a press release. "The repeated direct attacks on press workers at the public demonstrations in Córdoba prove that the activists have made the press an easy and vulnerable target," which "increases the danger journalists face in Córdoba," added the statement.
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.
