In 2011, 68 percent of Brazilian journalists used Twitter as their main tool for spreading news, according to a new digital journalism study from Oriella PR Network. The study, which aimed at understanding how the press worldwide is using digital technologies, interviewed about 500 journalists from 15 countries - 84 of those interviewed were Brazilian.
On Wednesday, June 27, Reporters Without Borders expressed its concern over for freedom of information in Paraguay after the controversial impeachment and removal -- what some are calling a coup -- of President Fernando Lugo on June 22. Since then, the new government has attempted to censor the public television station TV Pública de Paraguay. The channel was launched as the country's first public TV station in May 2011.
In less than two weeks, a third radio station was attacked with dynamite in Bolivia, in the southeastern city of Oruro, during the early morning hours on Tuesday, June 26, the Sole Union Confederation of Rural Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB in Spanish) reported, according to the Fide News Agency (ANF in Spanish).
The Brazilian government told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States that it will not reopen the case of the killing of reporter Vladimir Herzog for further investigation due to the amnesty law, reported the G1 on Thursday, June 21.
A Mexican official confirmed that journalist Stephania Cardoso is currently under the protection of the federal government, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported Friday, June 22.
With the Venezuelan presidential elections just three months away, attacks against the press and journalists will most likely increase, warned the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). WAN-IFRA visited Venezuela from June 4-6 and found that independent media were polarized and weakened.
A Chilean reporter was suspended after satirizing a tribute to the former dictator Augusto Pinochet during the news program “Ultima Mirada” on the channel Chilevisión. Despite much criticism, the Chilean TV station denied taking the reporter off the air, reported the digital newspaper El Mostrador.
A Peruvian journalist was hospitalized after being brutally attacked in the province of Calca, department of Cuzco, after criticizing the local mayor, whom the journalist blamed for the attack, reported the news outlet Enlace Nacional.
Two radio stations were attacked with dynamite in Colquiri, Bolivia, an area rife with protests and conflicts over mining. The attacks left 23 people injured and forced the radio stations to suspend broadcasting from June 14 to 15, reported Reporters Without Borders on Tuesday, June 19. Reporters Without Borders also called for the attacks to be investigated, and for journalists to be better protected.
O fundador do WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, pediu asilo político à Embaixada do Equador na Inglaterra, onde cumpre prisão domiciliar desde dezembro de 2010, após a Suécia pedir sua extradição. Assange é acusado de agressão sexual, informou a EFE.