Another Honduran digital newspaper journalist was shot to death on Friday, Aug. 10, reported the Center for Informative Reports of Guatemala (Cerigua in Spanish).
José Noel Canales, who worked at the newspaper Hondudiario as a news monitor, was killed while driving on his way to work in the department of Francisco Morazán, one of the most violent areas of the country, according to the newspaper Proceso.
Just a short distance from his house, attackers waited for the journalist in order to shoot him, reported the newspaper La Tribuna.
Authorities have not named motives or suspects in the killing of the journalist, said the newspaper El Heraldo.
On its webpage, Hondudiario said that since 2009, sister companies Hondudiario and Communication Professional Services (Seproc in Spanish) have been threatened and intimidated, such as with armed attacks that have forced workers to change their daily routines. "What can we ask for? What can we do? God protect us all," the publication said.
The National Human Rights Commission reported the killings of 31 journalists in Honduras, 24 of which have happened since 2010, according to the newspaper La Prensa. None of those killings have been solved, and often authorities attribute the crimes to generalized violence that impacts Honduras, which has the highest homicide rate in the world.
The killing of Canales happened at the same time that the Security, Protection, and Solidarity for Freedom of Expression conference took place in Honduras, the second most-dangerous country for journalists in the Americas. For more information, see this map from the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas about attacks against the Central American press.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
