It’s not just media that combat disinformation, voting authorities in Latin America are also fighting the phenomenon. Ahead of October elections in Argentina, judicial authorities are collaborating with media and NGOs to fact check candidates. At the regional level, an inter-American observatory exchanges fact-checking experiences with media and social platforms.
Journalist and researcher of media and digital platforms Daniel Mazzone analyzes the role of journalists in the face of fake news and a digital society. His book "Máquinas de Mentir [Lying machines]" uncovers new work perspectives from within the journalistic community and the structuring of a new contract with society.
The advance of drug trafficking in the border region between Paraguay and Brazil puts journalists who report on the issue at risk. LatAm Journalism Review interviewed four reporters who told how they protect themselves from being exposed to threats from organized crime.
Journalists from Bolivia and Brazil talk about their collaboration while covering drug trafficking and migration on the border between the two countries. LJR also interviewed Diário Corumbaense from the Brazilian border city of Corumbá to report on the news service it provides to the inhabitants of its local community.
"Today the quality of information is a collective endeavor among sources, readers, informants, and journalists," said media researcher Adriana Amado. LatAm Journalism Review interviewed her about her book "Journalism metaphors: Mutations and challenges," an investigation and reframing of concepts like "mutant journalism" and "gamer culture."
Consolidating a sustainable journalistic project with editorial independence is a difficult task. In Argentina, where a fiscal deficit coupled with a currency devaluation and inflation reached 94.8% in 2022, the question is unavoidable: What fundraising strategies do digital native media such as Cenital, Chequeado and elDiarioAr implement in order to survive?
Since Nov. 1, demonstrations by Bolsonaro supporters questioned election results by blocking national and interstate highways with trucks and tractors. Journalists covering the events were assaulted and intimidated while exercising press freedom. LatAm Journalism Review interviewed two journalists on the ground. Both suffered incidents and intimidation and told us about their experiences in the field.
During the pandemic, community journalists and doctors from local clinics warned that the official figures did not reflect the reality of the number of Covid 19 cases in the favelas. LabJaca, the data and information journalism laboratory, was born in the pandemic in the favela of Jacarezinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to inform the population there.