Clave newspaper closes its doors

posted on: Aug 5 2010 10:38 by The Reporter. Viewed 404 times.


In shock news for the Dominican media, the popular weekly Clave newspaper and the online news website Clave Digital announced yesterday that it was to be their last day of publication. Staff had been notified on Wednesday of their dismissal, and told to gather their belongings.

The newspaper cites the �financial distress� of the group, Media Team Dominicana  as the reason for closure. The newspaper�s editor and director, Fausto Rosario Adames wrote a letter to the media in which he indicated that there is a possibility that they would restart the paper in the future, when the �economic crisis� is over.

Clave had been operating around 5 years, and was backed up by Grupo Abrisa and the Hazoury family, developers of Cap Cana. The newspaper industry has been hit hard by the worldwide recession. Since 2008, a reported 166 newspapers have closed around the world.

As news of the closure spread like wildfire yesterday, another more onerous rumor followed close behind. The rumor was that the newspaper had been forced to close its doors due to a threat on the life of the editor, Fausto Rosario Adames, and was linked to police corruption and the murder of a rehabilitation physician from the UCE on Tuesday, Sergio Rafael Rojas Soriano.

52 year-old Soriano was shot 8 times early Tuesday morning when he was excercising near the Botanical Gardens on Santo Domingo. The details of the killing suggest it was a well-planned assassination.

According to media reports, Adames claims that the killers actually intended to kill him, but accidentally shot Soriano as he has a similar height, age and look, and was excercising in the same area. Adames also said the Clave editorial team received a call from a senior officer from the National Police, just 10 minutes after the killing, in which the officer requested an immediate meeting with newspaper executives.

Adames say they cannot talk further on the matter as they are waiting for further facts to be revealed.

Adames was among other high-profile jounalists who have criticized the Government and police for corruption and intervention with the media in order to restrict freedom of speech and control the media�s political power.

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