Peru Political Orientation
Government
Government Type: “Unitary, representative and decentralized government”
Leader: President Dina Boluarte
Political Party: Independent Coalition
Political Position: Center-Right
Press Freedom
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: 61.37 – Moderate Freedom
World Press Freedom Rank: Peru 110/180
Freedom House reports, “high-profile corruption scandals have eroded public trust in government.” Furthermore, Reporters without Borders ranked Peru 77/180 countries in its annual press freedom index, drawing attention to judicial harassment of journalists.
Media Ownership and Government Analysis
Corruption involving politicians is a serious problem in Peru, especially Peruvian presidents. For example, former president Alberto Fujimori is currently serving a jail sentence for ordering military death squad killings during his presidency. Fujimori’s daughter, Keiko Fujimori, once a presidential candidate, is under investigation for taking illicit money from companies, including Odebrecht. Former president Pablo Kuczynski (he is widely known as P.P.K.) resigned after surfaced video linked him to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Another former president, Ollanta Humala, his wife, and former president Alejandro Toledo were all accused or jailed with corruption charges.
In Peru, defamation is criminalized and punishable by two years imprisonment. Reporting on corruption, misuse of state resources, and bribery is dangerous, where journalists are frequently intimidated by defamation lawsuits. For example, in 2022, the Peruvian court convicted an author on defamation charges for a book he wrote on a politician.
Private ownership dominates the media landscape in Peru. For example, El Comercio, Trome, Peru 21, Gestion newspapers, Peruvian T.V. channel América Tv(América Televisión), and Canal N (subscription tv channel) are all owned by the wealthy Miró Quesada family through Grupo El Comercio. The second-largest media conglomerate is Grupo La República which owns the newspaper La República and several other media outlets. The Mohme Seminario family owns Grupo La República. Together, both conglomerates are owned by elite families controlling media in Peru.
The state owns Peruvian state broadcaster TV Peru, radio Nacional and El Peruano (newspaper). Corruption scandals tarnished the Peruvian Government, with Reuters reporting that “even though the government itself is not often trusted,” still, “State-run media – El Peruano (newspaper) and TV Perú News – rank highly; for trust.”
In summary, the concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few wealthy families reduces the diversity of viewpoints and thus limits media pluralism. Further, the Government uses the countries’ defamation laws to intimidate and censor journalists.
Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
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