Outgoing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gave his first blogger-only interview Nov. 24, Bruno Siffredi writes for Estadão. The interview was streamed live by the participants and on the government’s Blog do Planalto.
The Special Prosecutor for Crimes against Freedom of Expression initiated preliminary hearings in federal court for three individuals – two of them police officers – for their alleged role in attempting to kill a journalist, El Universal reports. For safety reasons, the journalist’s name has not been released.
Journalists in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte earn a base salary of $525 a month, the lowest in Brazil. They have launched a strong Internet campaign to criticize the decline of the profession in their state, and to demand a salary increase and respect for their human rights, the Portal Imprensa media news site reports.
President Hugo Chávez said it is not acceptable for the TV station Globovisión to criticize his government, while its majority shareholder, Guillermo Zuloaga, remains a fugitive of Venezuelan justice, The Associated Press reports.
The Bolivian government has finished a series of public debates in nine regions of the country to discuss how the new anti-racism law will be enforced, Prensa Latina reports. According to Los Tiempos, the rules should be ready before the end of the year.
Journalists from Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil will gather in the border cities of the three countries Nov. 26-28, 2010, to attend the First International Journalists Meeting on the Triple Frontier. The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas is a co-sponsor of the gathering.
Britain's Rory Peck Trust presented its Martin Adler Prize to freelance news cameraman Arturo Pérez for his distinguished journalistic work in Ciudad Juárez, the epicenter of the violence linked to organized crime in Mexico.
The president of Panama’s National Journalism Council, Guillermo Antonio Adames, reported that he received threats from individuals close to President Ricardo Martinelli, La Estrella and Panamá América report.
Journalist Roberto Gálvez said he received insulting and threatening phone calls shortly after giving a statement to authorities investigating the shooting death of Mayor Aucayacu Wilder Miranda, reports Inforegión, where Gálvez is a regional correspondent.
The Organization of American States (OAS) has launched scientificjournalism.org, the Inter-American Scientific Journalism Portal, billed as a “virtual space for the diffusion of knowledge, science and technology.”