Media influence has been a growing controversy in many Latin American countries. Many countries believe the media is trying to "undermine" their governments. Peru is no exception to this controversy. The Peruvian government, ran by President Ollanta Humala, is having difficulty agreeing with the media influence in the country. The President believes the media has too much influence and it is becoming dangerous. The media ownership is a huge issue in the country as well.
"The dispute erupted after Grupo El Comercio's purchase last year of a majority stake in Empresa Periodistica Nacional SA, known as Epensa. The $17 million acquisition increased El Comercio's share of Peru's newspaper market to more than 70% of sales from about 50%" stated in an article in the Wall Street Journal.
Media ownership is an issue because most of the time the media is owned by a group who doesn't agree with the government.
"It is an embarrassment that we have a group that practically owns all the media," Mr. Humala said. "It's dangerous."
These ownerships can be seen as a threat to the government. El Comercio, which is a Peruvian newspaper, bought a majority stake in Espensa. This led to El Comercio's biggest competitor, La Republica, filing a law suit against the newspaper due to "monopolistic practices."
"This conflict illustrates the fine line between protecting the freedom of press and working under a free market," said Dr. Jennifer McCoy
As a result of this conflict, both directors of each newspaper were brought together for a meeting to discuss this conflict.
"Despite the differences of opinion, the event was positive experience, according to Danilo Arbilla a panelist for the Carter Center. "It widened the knowledge and opened the debate for future contributions," he said.
http://www.cartercenter.org/news/features/p/americas/media-ownership-peru.html
http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-perus-president-ollanta-humala-sparks-controversy-with-comments-about-media-101842