About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

Alert

Radio station dismisses journalist after he insists on providing objective coverage of post-coup situation

(C-Libre/IFEX) - Journalist Danilo Osmaro Castellanos, who worked for HRN radio station for 15 years, was dismissed from his position after he insisted on providing impartial and balanced coverage of the post-coup situation and related political conflicts in Honduras.

Castellanos, who is also a member of the C-Libre board of directors, said that he insisted on covering the marches in the streets by people who are against the coup and that he wanted to use several information sources in order to provide balanced coverage. He added, however, that this bothered the station's executive and that the reports were always rejected when they were brought forward for approval to broadcast. The journalist said that this insistence on balanced coverage was what eventually lead to his dismissal.

Castellanos went on to note that he feels liberated after having left the station, saying, "A load has been taken off, it was like a chain that didn't allow me to freely carry out my work."

Castellanos first encountered difficulties in 2008, when HRN cancelled his programme "Voces y Cantos de Honduras" in retaliation after he spoke out in favour of a hunger strike that was being undertaken by four attorneys from the Public Prosecutor's Office who were protesting against corruption.