World Business

Jaime Rengifo was a year one of the journalists of audiences around the department of Guajira and during his career he was hated by some, feared by others and admired by most.

Why listeners Rengifo stations where he worked, loved him so much? The explanation is simple: say what the humble man in the street, the ordinary citizen, the son of neighbor, I would say if given the chance to do so through the media.

And he said without makeup or fabric softeners. This attitude some call it bravery, others, imprudence.

Whatever the term for this way of doing journalism is important to remember how the journalist died: killed by a gunman in the lobby of the hotel where he was staying, 29 April of the year 2.003.

For now do not know the results of investigations by the competent bodies, so do not know the identity of the perpetrators of the crime.

While no one knows the ‘who’ everyone assumes the ‘Why’ (As if a why to be removed someone’s life: He was killed for telling the truth and speak it without makeup.

Killing journalists is the worst form of censorship to the media.

Dictatorships provide mechanisms to limit freedom of expression: the tyrants know that if people know the truth, the truth will set you free.

In civilized nations are issued laws designed to protect freedom of expression and in some cases the rules in this regard have been recorded in the same
Constitution.

However, the threat to the exercise of this right does not come from the tyrants of the age of the caves or strong-arm dictators and heart of stone.

Today, the constraints come from a part of the economic pressures on journalists and media workers and other threats to physical integrity and life of the communicators.

For journalists in his province is not easy work. On the one hand do their work to visit primary sources, write and publish news, and the other must be “funded”, ie sell advertising quotas for which are paid work.

And the sale of quotas distracts the focus of the journalist and makes it vulnerable to the demands of advertisers who in some cases, directly or indirectly are often the protagonists of the news.
On the other hand are the threats and in some cases, the facts.

Therefore, more worrying how it restricts the activity of those who practice journalism is not the dictator, the tyrant, but self-censorship.

Voltaire said, “I do not agree with what you say, but I’m willing to give my life to defend your right to say it ‘. And journalists know that the state provides all the legal guarantees. But newsrooms continues to haunt the ghost of Jaime Rengifo and nobody wants to repeat the end of his story.