Alfredo Felipe Fuentes has arrived in Madrid with 10 family members following his release from prison Oct. 8, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports. Thirteen political prisoners including 17 journalists have been released from Cuban prisons since President Raúl Castro agreed in July to free 52 people.
The event that was promised to be the media story of the week certainly lived up to its billing. The successful rescue of 33 miners trapped for 69 days 2,300 feet below ground has captured the attention of the entire world who followed the live broadcasts and constant web updates, CBS and the Association Press report.
The judge presiding over Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Court, Wilfredo Ovando, rejected efforts by journalism groups to hold a referendum on two controversial articles in the recently approved anti-racism law, EFE reports. The new rules were signed into law by President Evo Morales last week, igniting protests from activists and journalists who argue the law violates freedom of expression.
Franklin Martins, the minister in charge of government advertising and relations with the media, said that Brazil was preparing a media bill that will reach Congress before the end of the year, BBC Brasil reports. According to O Estado de S. Paulo, the proposal includes the creation of a government agency in charge of regulation.
Through its You Tube channel, the Inter American Press Association has launched a series of videos highlighting its international campaign to counter violence against the press in countries such as Mexico, Honduras, and Colombia.
Press groups, opposition politicians, and Jewish community leaders demanded that economics minister Amado Boudou retract his statements to two journalists, La Razón reports. According to Télam, the minister has since recanted, saying that his remarks were inappropriate.
Panamanian journalists have joined forces to demand more respect for freedom of expression and to express objections over legal setbacks in the area, reported La Prensa.
The ordeal in northern Chile of 33 miners trapped for two months 2,300 feet below ground “has converted into a big reality show,” explained La Nación. The rescue expected for this Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010, promises to be the “media event” of the week.
The dismissal of psychoanalyst Maria Rita Kehl from her work as a columnist for O Estado de S. Paulo, after writing about the “disqualification” of votes of poor people in Brazil brought accusations of censorship and requests for her reinstatement, Terra Magazine reports.
One month after the killing of journalist and social activist Adams Ledesma, director of a TV channel in a Buenos Aires shantytown, the crime remains unpunished, and neighbors and relatives have called a march to insist that the case is solved, Perfil newspaper reports.