Mexican senators approved a proposal ("dictamen de ley") that would require federal authorities to investigate, prosecute, and punish crimes against journalists or any attacks affecting the rights to access of information, freedom of expression or of the press, according to a statement from the Senate.
Three Guatemalan journalists were assaulted by prison guards while investigating prison conditions, reported the newspaper Prensa Libre on Wednesday, Feb. 29.
A coalition of about 50 media outlets in Mexico published a statement calling on authorities to guarantee safety for journalists of the newspaper Seminario Zeta, which is published in the border city of Tijuana, and which recently has received threats from a criminal gang, reported the news agency EFE.
Mexican radio and TV media owners filed a petition asking the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate and review the pending sanctions against radio and television stations imposed by election officials, reported the newspaper Milenio.
An ex-attorney general sued a Mexican journalist and publishing house for libel over passages published in the book "Los Señores del Narco," or "The Drug Lords," reported Radio Formula.
The Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, now considered the most dangerous city in the world for the 159 killings per each 100,000 persons -- surpassing the violence of Ciudad Juárez in Mexico -- has become a hostile place for journalists.
Unknown assailants beat a Mexican political journalist on Thursday, Feb. 23, in the city of Mexicali, located in northeastern Mexico along the Californian border, reported the Program for Freedom of Expression (Libex).
Milton Coleman, president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and an editor of The Washington Post, visited Honduras on Tuesday, Feb. 28, to talk with President Porfirio Lobo about a proposed bill to regulate the Honduran media, reported Proceso.
Mexican journalist Anabel Hernández was awarded the 2012 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize given by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). Hernández was recognized for her investigative reporting on corruption and the abuse of power in Mexican politics, the association announced on its website on Thursday, March 1.
After international outcry, on Monday, Feb. 27, Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa announced his decision to pardon journalists in the $40 million libel suit against the newspaper El Universo, its three owners and a former newspaper columnist, who were facing three years in prison. The president also dismissed the fine against the authors of a book detailing the president's alleged acts of nepotism, reported the Associated Press.