Colombian journalist and political leader Argemiro Cárdenas Agudelo was shot to death on Thursday, March 15, reported the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP in Spanish).
During a conference in Vienna, Austria, Bolivian President Evo Morales said there is "too much freedom of expression" in his country and that independent news outlets in Bolivia are his main opposition, reported the radio station FM Bolivia.
With more than one million followers, the Mexican newspaper El Universal has more Twitter followers than any other newspaper from among the top 100 dailies in Latin America, according to a website that ranks newspapers' popularity.
On Sunday, March 11, the Ecuadorian Association of Newspaper Publishers (AEDEP in Spanish) asked President Rafael Correa to end his campaign against the press and to focus instead on real problems that Ecuador is facing, reported the newspaper El Diario.
Online news consumption is becoming important around the world as audiences and investments grow exponentially. In the United States, digital media advertising revenue is increasing while traditional media revenues are decreasing, and in Brazil, online advertising revenue is expected to surpass print in 2015. However, not all professionals that work in the news industry are prepared to modify their print style of writing to a screen style, nor do they take into account the fact that online reading is different.
The Bolivian government approved a decree requiring media owners to guarantee transportation at night for journalists and other press workers, reported radio station FM Bolivia. The door-to-door transport is supposed to run from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
A U.S. journalist working in Chile said he was unjustly arrested, and criticized the police brutality that has worsened since multiple protests erupted in Chile in May 2011, reported the news agency UPI.
In a statement, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the Ecuadorian government for "flagrantly" distorting information about what was discussed during a meeting between HRW and the National Communication Secretary of Ecuador, Fernando Alvarado, where freedom of expression in the country was debated.
A Paraguayan journalist said he received a death threat from Senator Robert Acevedo, reported the newspaper ABC Color on Friday, March 2. The senator denied the accusations, saying that it was an attempt to cause him political harm, added ABC Color.
After pardoning the journalists in a $40 million libel lawsuit against the newspaper El Universo, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa once again attacked the press, saying that in Latin America there exists a "media dictatorship" and that now is the time for "free citizens to rebel against this abuse," reported the news agency EFE.