TV reporter José Agustín Silvestre was kidnapped, shot and killed on 2nd August in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Local papers have claimed his murder is connected to accusations he had made regarding corruption and local delinquency on his programme, The Voice of Truth. Silvestre had also served a prison sentence in May for defamation and slander after accusing a city prosecutor of having drug trafficking connections. The Inter American Press Association called 2011 “the most tragic year in the last two decades for Latin American press” in a report published last month. Silvestre is the 20th reporter to have been killed in the region this year.