José Rubén Zamora was born on August 19th 1956. He is the founder of 2 of Guatemala's most important newspapers, Siglo Veintiuno (21st Century) in 1990 and El Periódico (The Newspaper) in 1996. He has generated great controversy in his role as editor-in-chief of both newspapers, and continues in that role with the latter today. August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1956 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Editor has four major senses: a person who obtains or improves material for a publication; a film editor, a person responsible for the flow of a motion picture or television program from scene to scene a sound editor, a person responsible for the flow and choice of music, voice, and...

Early career

He began working as a reporter in La Hora (The Hour), a newspaper owned by his family, when he was 17. After graduating in industrial engineering and business administration he founded a news and production company in 1986 before beginning Siglo Veintiuno 4 years later. Engineering is the application of science to the needs of humanity. ... Business refers to at least three closely related commercial topics. ... Wiktionary has a definition of: Administration Organisational use In some organisational analyses, administration can refer to the bureaucratic or operational performance of mundane office tasks, usually internally oriented. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Siglo Veintiuno

Very quickly he and his staff were harrased, including receiving death threats and being attacked. He came into particularly sharp conflict with the government of Jorge Serrano Elías, and after the latter suspended the constitutiom in May 1993 he also invoked censorship of the press. Siglo Veintiuno was allowed to continue publishing but bits were censored out. Zamora responded by temporarily renaming the paper Siglo Catorce (14th Century) and covered the censored pieces with blocks of ink. Copies were burnt on the streets. Zamora faxed the uncensored version to various places outside Guatemala which resulted in greater condemnation of the Serrano regime in the international community. Zamora's campaign against Serrano's suspension of the constitution is considered to be one of the main reasons why the latter eventually abandoned power and fled to El Salvador. In 1995, after an article linking certain high ranking military officers with organised crime, he was forced off the road and threatened. He refused to stop his investigations, and the death threats continued. In May 1996 Zamora resigned his post as Editor due to disagreements with the board of directors. 2 days later a grenade was thrown at his car while it was parked outside a restaurant he was eating at. Zamora believed this was an attempt to stop him go ahead with his plans to set up a new newspaper. 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Censorship is the systematic use of group power to broadly control freedom of speech and expression, largely in regard to secretive matters. ... Press is a general term having a number of related meanings stemming from the original definition of pressing as the physical action of applying force: Things relating to Metalworking: Machine press, a machine that shapes material by the application of pressure; Flypress, a machine that cuts material by pressing with... An ink is a liquid containing various pigments and/or dyes used for colouring a surface to render an image or text. ... Fax (short for facsimile or telefacsimile) is a telecommunications technology used to transfer copies of documents, especially using affordable devices operating over the telephone network. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... A board of directors is a group of individuals chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company. ... The word grenade can mean:- The well-known hand grenade commonly used by soldiers. ...

El Periódico

This newspaper first began on November 6th 1996, thanks to the donations of 125 citizens who supported Zamora's stand on press freedom. It was bought by the owners of Prensa Libre, Guatemala's best selling newspaper, in 1997. In June 2003 armed men entered his house, and briefly held him and his family as hostages for several hours. He was tied to a chair, and told that those from above wanted him to stop his negative reporting of them. Zamora decided to send his family into exile in Miami until the forthcoming presidential elections were over, but he stayed in Guatemala himself to continue his uncompromising coverage of the election. November 6 is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 55 days remaining. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the city in Florida. ... A General Election was held in Guatemala on 9 November 2003. ...

Zamora's efforts have helped create a much stronger and more independent press in Guatemala. On October 15th 2003 he was awarded the Knight Award. October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in Leap years). ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External link

• Biography (http://www.freemedia.at/IPIReport/Heroes_IPIReport2.00/50Zamora.htm)
• BBC article on 2003 attack (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3028928.stm)