Agência Pública, a prime example of the independent media landscape in Brazil, has launched two innovations during the month of its five-year anniversary: a cultural center to support independent journalism and an unprecedented interactive map on new journalistic initiatives in the country.
After a year in which all major Brazilian newspapers experienced a decline in the circulation of their print editions, new strategies are beginning to emerge to deal with a situation in which rethinking business models is imperative.
In a violent action carried out by the military police to disperse protesters in São Paulo during a demonstration against increased transportation fares held on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at least nine media professionals were wounded, according to Abraji (the Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism).
With just over a month under its belt, the website #Colabora is emerging as one of the new media initiatives showing signs of having found a purpose and a way to establish itself as a journalism nonprofit in Brazil. Headed by veteran journalist Agostinho Vieira, the project brings together dozens of employees and addresses issues related to a collaborative and sustainable economy.
This year, the most prestigious award of the Brazilian press, ExxonMobil Award of Journalism (formerly known as Esso Award, or Prêmio Esso), went to a story that used a public online database as its main source. On the night of Nov. 12, two members of the Estadão Dados team, José Roberto de Toledo and Rodrigo Burgarelli, along with reporter Paulo Saldaña, won the award in the main category for “Farra no Fiés” (Farra in Fiés).
For five years, a group of young people from the periphery of São Paulo, under the supervision of journalist Izabela Moi, faced a challenge: portray their neighborhoods from an "insider’s view," with coverage that went beyond clichés about violence and welfare.
In the context of high levels of violence against journalists in Brazil, which already account for four murders this year, freedom of the press defenders came together around a project that seeks to curb impunity in these crimes. The Brazilian Press Association (ABI for its acronym in Portuguese) and the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj for its acronym in Portuguese) launched "SOS Journalist", a platform for journalists to denounce aggressions and media abuses related to their professional practice, and to ask
Update (August 24, 2015): From the Quito International Airport on August 21, Brazilian journalist Manuela Picq announced she had decided to leave Ecuador due to the "legal limbo" in which she found herself after the Ecuadoran courts failed to reactivate her visa, reported newspaper El Universo.
“Remember that journalism is a matter too serious to leave only to journalists.” This phrase captures the spirit of the new crowdfunding project from Pública of Brazil.
After being sentenced to seven months in prison for writing a fictional essay, journalist Cristian Góes has been ordered to pay 30 thousand Brazilian Reals (US$11,300) in compensation for moral damages to judge Edson Ulisses, vice president of the Sergipe Justice Tribunal.