Sale of Nicaraguan TV Station Provokes Journalist’s Departure

January 28, 2010

Carlos Fernando Chamorro, a popular Nicaraguan journalist and outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega, announced this week that he will be leaving Telenica Channel 8 after the station was allegedly sold to relatives of the president. The son of former President Violeta Chamorro (1990-1997) and martyred newspaper editor Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, he hosts a nightly news show, Esta Noche, and a weekly program, Esta Semana.

Described by Carlos Lauría of the Committee to Project Journalists as “the most influential journalist in Nicaragua,” Chamorro has criticized the Ortega administration for attacks on free speech.

On Sunday, during his last taping of Esta Semana, he explained his departure: “The continuance of the programs Esta Semana and Esta Noche would validate his history of abuses against the freedom of expression during his presidency… my continuance at this channel would create the image of tolerance that the regime has never had nor will ever have toward independent media in this country.” Esta Semana, which first aired in 1994, had been on Channel 8 since 2005. Esta Noche had aired since 2006.

Nicaraguan media has reported that Carlos Briceño, the station’s previous owner, sold Channel 8 for $10 million.