An Argentine journalist was attacked during a protest against the government of President Cristina Fernández on Thursday, Nov. 8, reported the website Última Hora. Néstor Dib, a television reporter for C5N, was covering the "#8N" casserole demonstration when he was hit from behind, according to the website.
Camera footage helped identify the assailant and he was later arrested by police, according to the newspaper La Voz. The broadcaster C5N also reported that the agressor lost his job at an insurance company after attacking the reporter, added the newspaper.
The incident started minutes before when a group of people approached the reporting van and started fighting with the channel's workers, reported the newspaper Clarín. Before he was arrested, the agressor claimed C5N employees hit him, according to the newspaper.
The Argentine Journalism Forum condemned the attack and said it would be logged in its list of attacks on free expression, reported the newspaper La Nación.
According to the website Noticias Urbana, this was not the only attack on the press during the demonstration. Reporters for the public television program "Duro de domar" claimed they were kicked and punched by protesters, added the website.
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.
