In what is being called a victory for free speech, a Brazilian judge has dismissed defamation and libel charges against U.S. journalist Joe Sharkey, who survived a collision over the Amazon in September 2006 that killed 154 people. Sharkey blamed failures in Brazil's air control system for the collision between the private jet in which he was flying and a commercial airliner. He reported the decision on his blog.
At the end of its 66th Assembly, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) decided to send 22 resolutions, the majority dealing with press freedom, to government officials and inter-American organizations.
An armed group stormed the offices of El Sur newspaper in Acapulco (SW Mexico) Wednesday night,( Nov. 10). They fired inside the building, but none of the 8-12 employees present was harmed, EFE and La Jornada report.
The federal government is preparing a new media bill for President-elect Dilma Rousseff and invited international specialists to discuss regulation issues at the International Seminar on Electronic Communication and Media Convergence, which took place Nov. 9-10 in Brasília. The conference gathered almost 300 representatives from government, industry, academia, international organizations, and journalism.
The State Human Rights Commission in Jalisco state has issued measures to protect Adriana Luna, a correspondent for Excélsior newspaper and the Imagen media company, who was threatened by the state’s secretary of Public Security, Luis Carlos Nájera, CEPET reports via IFEX.
The editor of Jornal de Londrina, in Paraná state (south), has petitioned the Supreme Court to suspend a ruling requiring it to pay $353,000 for moral damages to an ex-mayor of Sertanópolis. The editor says the small paper will have to close if it’s obliged to pay.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded a “thorough investigation” into the killing of crime reporter Carlos Guajardo to determine if members of the army shot him.
The editor responsible for judicial coverage at El Tiempo newspaper, Jineth Bedoya Lima, received threats from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after releasing her book about el “Mono Jojoy,” the guerrilla leader killed in September, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) reports.
The 66th Inter American Press Association (IAPA) Assembly took place in Mérida, Mexico, where the group warned that press freedom in the continent was threatened by violence and political repression, The Canadian Press reports.
The city outskirts, or peripheries, comprise a third of the Brazilian population. Because these communities traditionally are ignored by mainstream media – except in matters where stereotypes dominate – a citizen journalism project created by the Brazilian journalist Bruno Garcez, 38 years old, is aimed at covering these neighborhoods in a more complete and accurate way. With a fellowship from the Knight Foundation, offered by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), Bruno took a year off from his position