The IAPA is concerned about Pedro Castillo’s “discriminatory attitudes.”

Inter-American Press Association (SIP) On Tuesday Peruvian President Pedro Castillo expressed his concern over the “defamatory statements against the media” and called on journalists to “drop his quiet approach”, which he has not interviewed since he began. His order.

The organization recalled that during a visit to Arequipa last week, Castillo threatened not to give official publicity to the media.Distorting reality.

Facing the opposition’s impeachment motion in the Peruvian Congress, the president said the media was selling pro-government editorials in exchange for the “budget” allocated to them.

These reports led the Peruvian Press Council and the National Radio and Television Society to deny that the media “conditioned their position or editorial tax on investing in government-made advertising.”

They point out that state ads make up 5% of their total revenue.

IAPA President George Kanahuvati and Carlos Jornet, chairman of the organization’s Press and Information Freedom Committee, stressed that official advertising should not be “an instrument of government that rewards or punishes the media or journalists.” Important ”, rather, they should be managed with“ transparency and technical and performance criteria.

“It is important that the Peruvian Congress enact legislation and mandate that various governments use public funds for their own benefit and that discriminate against the media, which is considered important with an official guide,” they said in a joint statement.

Corrupt practice

The IAPA described the discriminatory treatment of official advertisements by governments as “a corrupt practice”, “due to the misuse of public resources and attempts to influence the editorial decisions of the media.”

Similarly, it condemned the media and journalists who, as stated in the resolution on official advertising, “benefit from these irregular and illegal practices or are complicit in their conduct.”

The IAPA noted the Commission’s Declaration on Freedom of Expression on Human Rights, which states that “the arbitrary and discriminatory provision of official advertising … undermines freedom of expression in the light of its press coverage.”

Kanahuwati, managing director of Grubo Opso (Honduras) and Jornet, director of the newspaper The voice of the soul (Argentina), at the beginning of his term in July, expressed their concern about “President Castillo’s secrecy in front of journalists and the media.”

“In our recent statement on press freedom in Peru, the President reinforces the course we have condemned,” they added.

This restricts Castillo and his government officials from accessing information about the public interest of journalists, the media and citizens, and does not provide interviews, “they said.