(PFC/IFEX) – In a 24 May 2003 press release, journalists from “La Nación Domingo”, the Sunday supplement of “La Nación” newspaper, announced their respective resignations. The news team accused the newspaper’s management of having succumbed to political pressure. An article entitled, “La caja negra del Indap” (“The Indap black box”), which was scheduled to appear […]
(PFC/IFEX) – In a 24 May 2003 press release, journalists from “La Nación Domingo”, the Sunday supplement of “La Nación” newspaper, announced their respective resignations. The news team accused the newspaper’s management of having succumbed to political pressure. An article entitled, “La caja negra del Indap” (“The Indap black box”), which was scheduled to appear in the paper on 25 May, was censored by the paper’s management.
The resigning journalists included editor Julio César Rodríguez, assistant editor Mirko Macari, journalists Alejandra Matus, Marcela Ramos and Marcelo Padilla, contributors Leonardo Navarro, Pablo Basadre, Macarena Silva, Claudia Molina and Juan Sharpe, and columnists Paul Walder, Guillermo Tejeda and Domingo Domínguez.
The censored article, which was written by Matus, refers to a study on funding for programmes to support small farming businesses. The study concluded that for 10 years more than 60 per cent of the US$1 billion in the fund was instead given to medium-sized companies, most of which were linked to the Democracia Cristiana political party. Matus had also reported that the auditor general had noted irregularities in monies paid to six executives at the Agricultural Development Institute (Instituto de Desarrollo Agropecuario, INDAP). The “La Nación Domingo” news team said Matus’ report would be published in another media outlet in the coming days.
In a letter to “La Nación” management, PFC praised the “La Nación Domingo” news team’s efforts during the 10 months they worked for the supplement and the exemplary action they were taking by refusing to tolerate censorship.
