An exhaustive report from the Committee to Protect Journalists on the situation for journalists around the world placed Brazil and Ecuador among the top ten countries where press freedom suffered the most during 2012, and named Mexico as the country with the most missing journalists in the world.
In Brazil, the number of killed journalists grew and the lack of investigations into these crimes turned the country into the fourth most lethal nation for the press. The rise in cases of judicial censorship -- legal tactics that government officials and businessmen employed to prevent or punish journalists that published unfavorable information about them -- also contributed to the precarious situation in the country.
Recent legislation limiting the news coverage during the electoral process, as well as the growing polarization between the government and the press, gave Ecuador a place in CPJ's risk list as well. The organization also highlighted the case of four journalists who were forced to go into exile and the closing of at least 11 stations, most of them critical of the government.
Meanwhile, Mexico, had the highest number of missing journalists last year. It led the list with 12 missing journalists, followed by Russia with eight and Congo, Irak and Rwanda with two each. It continues to be one of the most dangerous countries for the press due to ongoing drug violence in its territory.
CPJ's first Risk List was based on six indicators: fatalities, impunity, imprisonments, censorship, restrictive laws, and exiled journalists. The report noted that the list did not reflect the worst places for the press in the world, but those with that suffered the greatest setbacks last year. Besides Ecuador and Brazil, the other countries in the list were Ethiopia, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Turkey and Vietnam.
Even though only two countries from the Americas were in the list, CPJ said the continent failed freedom of the press. The report made reference to the blow that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special rapporteur on freedom of expression during last year's general assembly of the Organization of American States. In an effort to diminish the strength of this organism, Ecuador led the charge and was followed by a group of several countries, which included ALBA members Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua. Argentina and Brazil tacitly supported the move as well, CPJ said.
Click here to read the full report.
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.
