The Ecuadoran government has ramped up its media presence with the Sept. 6 launch of PP, El Verdadero (the True One), a popular (as in "of the people") publication that, in the words of President Rafael Correa, aims to "counter the de facto powers that are disguised as media" in the country, reported AFP and the news agency Andes.
The decision of the Honduran Congress to allocate the frequency of television channel Canal 8 to the government has prompted criticisms, and the owner of Teleunsa -- which currently operates the signal -- has accused President Porfirio Lobo of plotting to take over the station, reported La Prensa and AFP.
Cuban dissident and journalist Guillermo Fariñas, who in July ended his 135-day hunger strike, is recovering after emergency surgery to remove his gall bladder on Sept. 3, reported AFP and the Miami Herald.
In recognition of the challenges and restrictions she faces as a blogger in Cuba, and her defense of freedom of expression, the International Press Institute (IPI), based in Vienna, has named Yoani Sanchez of its 60 heroes of press freedom. (See also this story from EFE in Spanish).
Luis Carlos Cervantes, correspondent for Teleantioquia in Tarazá, is being protected by police after receiving anonymous death threats that told him to leave town within 72 hours, reported El Espectador and RCN Noticias.
Adams Ledesma, director of a news program for the cable channel Mundo Villa TV, in Villa 31, a large slum in the center of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, was stabbed to death early Saturday, Sept. 4, reported the news agency DyN and magazine Perfil.
Argentina's labor minister, Carlos Tomada, has promised to guarantee continued employment for journalists and other employees whose jobs were threatened with the closure of the newspaper Crítica, according to the blog of the newspaper workers. The are to be hired by other media, whether private or government-owned, the blog said.
The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that radio and television stations now are free to broadcast political satire and jokes about election candidates. They also can issue opinions for or against candidates in news and editorial programs, as long as they don't serve as propaganda, reported O Estado de S. Paulo.
One day after a shooting attack in Mazatlán, the newspaper Noroeste received new threatening phone calls, including messages demanding $15,000 in exchange for not blowing up the newspaper's building, reported EFE and Noroeste. Employees were evacuated because of the threats.
In the middle of August, the newspaper La Prensa in Nicaragua said it was firing 23 delivery workers, but the Labor Ministry ordered their rehiring, which according to the newspaper — a strong opponent of President Daniel Ortega— is part of a “political persecution” trying to restrict freedoms of press and opinion.