Three journalists from a local television channel in Honduras received death threats for covering the prision fire which killed 350 inmates Feb. 14 in the city of Comayagua, in central Honduras, reported the Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre in Spanish).
To avoid police aggression, reporters in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, work in groups when covering seizures, arrests and any other crime in this city on the U.S-Mexico border, now considered the second most violent in the world after spending three years in first place. “While one person speaks with officials, others are ready with their cameras to make public any incidents of aggression," explained Alfredo Quijano, editor of the local newspaper Norte, in an interview with the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
The Dominican Journalism Guild (CDP in Spanish) proposed mandatory membership for journalists and penalizing journalists without university degrees with two years of prison and a fine of roughly $25,700, reported the newspapers El Nuevo Diario and Diario Libre.
After the Colombian Association of Newspaper Editors and Media (Andiarios) decided to run the opinion column that prompted the libel lawsuit by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, newspapers all over Latin America decided to follow suit on Thursday, Feb. 23, reported the Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo, the daily being sued by Correa.
An Italian journalist criticized Honduran soldiers for intimidating and threatening foreign press members who were covering the International Gathering for Human Rights, held in the Lower Aguán, a valley in northern Honduras where farm workers seeking to reclaim their lands have suffered repression and abuse, reported the organization C-Libre.
The president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, offered asylum to Ecuadoran journalist Carlos Pérez Barriga, one of the owners of the El Universo newspaper who, along with his two brothers, was just sentenced to three years in prison and $40 million in fines for defaming Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, according to the non-governmental organization Fundamedios. Martinelli made the announcement via his Twitter account on Thursday, Feb. 16.
Twelve Mexican soccer teams announced that they would prevent reporters from a Mexican sports newspaper from entering their stadiums, reported the magazine Proceso on Saturday, Feb. 18.
Congressional legislators in Guatemala passed a measure preventing press access to closed door sessions, reported the newspaper elPeriódico.
The Mexican newspaper El Buen Tono published images and a video from the armed attack the daily suffered more than three months ago, reported the newspaper Milenio on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
The National Chamber of the Radio and TV Industry (CIRT in Spanish), which represents the majority of the radio and TV companies in Mexico, announced that it would appeal to international bodies to denounce the current electoral law, which limits freedom of expression and press freedom, reported the newspaper El Universal.