Media of Peru

While many of the media in Peru is over a century old, other such media is relatively new.

Newspapers

The oldest newspaper in Peru is El Peruano, which was founded by Simón Bolívar on October 22, 1825. El Peruano acts as the official newspaper of record, and all laws passed in Peru must be published in the daily. Despite El Peruano's official status, it does not have the largest circulation among Peruvian dailies. Lima-based El Comercio, founded on May 7, 1839, is one of the most important Peruvian newspapers. It is also the oldest privately-owned paper in the country. The Miró Quesada family controls the majority of El Comercio stock.

Left-leaning La República, founded on May 3, 1981, is another important newspaper. La República ardently opposed the government of Alberto Fujimori, and continues to refer to him as the "ex-dictator." La República was founded and edited by Gustavo Mohme Llona, who was formerly a member of Congress. It is now edited by his son, Gustavo Mohme Seminario.

In addition to these two newspapers, there are several other newspapers, including, for example, Peru.21, Correo, and La Razón, which is extremely pro-Fujimori. There are also several sensationalist tabloids that are considered to be part of the "prensa chicha." Such papers frequently feature women wearing bikinis or less and show pictures of dead bodies on their front pages. During the government of Fujimori, Vladimiro Montesinos secretly purchased the editorial lines of such tabloids through bribery. Le Monde diplomatique also publishes a Peruvian version.

According to a readership survey done in Lima in May 2007, the ten most widely read newspapers were Trome (1,103.5 thousand readers), El Comercio (549.7), Ojo (432.1), Ajá (361.0), Perú21 (290.7), El Popular (265.5), El Bocón (256.5), Correo (227.3), Líbero (148.2) and La República (139.7).^[1]

Radio

Many radio stations exist throughout Peru, including Radioprogramas del Perú.

There are a lot of radio stations in Peru. Peruvian listeners prefer FM stations instead of MW and SW stations. Major cities such as Lima, Arequipa and Trujillo have their fm dial full. Since 1990 most of these stations have been acquired by large radio corporations in order to monopolize the dial. Only a very few independent stations survived this wave. As a consequence Peruvian government does not currently give licenses for new frequencies.

This is one of the reasons that since late 1990s pirate radios and Internet radios have appeared and are increasing.

Television

Among Peru's television networks is Frecuencia Latina, which was the subject of considerable controversy and indirectly led to a case being decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Frecuencia Latina covered several stories of corruption in the Fujimori government when it was owned by Baruch Ivcher. However, Baruch Ivcher was stripped of his Peruvian citizenship and forced to sell his shares of the channel below market value to pro-Fujimori businessmen. Ivcher took the case to court, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights eventually decided in his favor.

Another channel in Peru is Canal N, a 24-hour cable news channel that is a joint venture between El Comercio and Telefónica.

Other Peruvian networks include América Televisión, which was purchased by El Comercio and La República, Panamericana Televisión, which secretly sold its editorial line to Vladimiro Montesinos, and public broadcasting station TV Perú.

Internet-only media

Internet-only media started in 1995 with some on-demand broadcasts in Real Audio done by Frecuencia Primera RTVN, Red Cientifica Peruana, Peru.Com and Radio Programas. Currently there are over 10 thousand online stations; some of them are Internet Only but some others are just live rebroadcast fm or mW stations. With some exceptions Internet Only stations die just a few weeks or months after they are created.

About Internet TV, some VHF stations like Frecuencia Latina and TV PERU broadcast their on-air feeds via Internet. Starting in 2006 some TV stations have appeared like TELURICA and in 2007 Frecuencia Primera RTVN released CANAL 200, using the name as they were created in 1976. TELURICA produces their own Internet Only programmes but CANAL 200 shows just clips and some sample productions.

Magazines

Caretas, founded in October 1950 by Doris Gibson and her son Enrique Zileri, is one of Peru's most prestigious newsmagazines.

References

1. ^ Fernando Chevarría León, "KMR presentó nuevo índice de lectoría para la prensa". El Comercio, June 7, 2007, p. B4.