A statement from independent Nicaraguan journalists condemning lethal violence on protesters and attacks on the press, and urging respect for press freedom from the government, has garnered signatures from 35 media outlets, four civil society organizations, 87 journalists and counting.
Salvadoran journalist Manuel Durán Ortega (42), who was arrested a month ago by police while covering a protest against immigration policies in the U.S., could be deported from that country at any time, Reporters Without Borders (RSF, for its acronym in French) reported.
Two suspects in the murder of Nicaraguan journalist Ángel Gahona were sent to prison on May 8 after an initial hearing before a district judge in Managua, the country’s capital, La Prensa reported. However, the journalist’s family as well as the detainees and other civil society organizations, are protesting the accusation made by the public prosecutor’s office, saying it is a strategy of the authorities to avoid accusing the real perpetrators.
In Brazil in 2017 there were at least 27 serious violations against communicators, according to a report released on May 3 by the Brazilian branch of international organization Article 19, which is dedicated to the defense of freedom of expression. The information compiled by the NGO annually since 2012 highlights continuing trends in the country: politicians are the main suspects of ordering or carrying out violations; small cities, with up to 100,000 inhabitants, are the main sites of these violations; and radio broadcast
The film crew behind the latest documentary looking at violence against journalists in Mexico spent three years (2015-2017) working on the project. Three years which they say were the bloodiest for the country's press.
As they have every year since 1993, when UNESCO proclaimed May 3 as World Press Freedom Day, journalists and freedom of expression advocates in Latin America and around the world gathered at conferences and rallied online to discuss the importance of press freedom and ways to the threats it faces.
Mexican journalist Daniela Rea is the first winner of Breach-Valdez award for journalism and human rights. Upon receiving the award in Mexico City on May 3, which also marks World Press Freedom Day, Rea dedicated it to the families of its namesakes, slain Mexican journalists Miroslava Breach and Javier Valdez, as well as the other “113 colleagues who have been killed in Mexico since 2000.” She received the prize from Valdez’s widow, Griselda Triana, and journalist Pepe Reveles.
In 1920, the Brazilian jurist Rui Barbosa (1849-1923) affirmed that "delayed justice is not justice, but injustice qualified and manifest". Almost 100 years later, his words have inspired the new venture from Brazilian news site JOTA, which focuses on the country’s Judiciary. The bot Rui (@ruibarbot), which launched at the end of April, monitors and publishes via Twitter about slowness in the progress of proceedings before the Federal Supreme Court (STF for its acronym in Portuguese).
The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas is pleased to announce the publication of its latest free ebook, “Innovators in Latin American Journalism.”
Numerous television and radio news outlets in Nicaragua were attacked or experienced signal interruptions during coverage of the wave of protests that erupted throughout the country due to a reform to the Social Security Law by the government of President Daniel Ortega.
Latin Americans are among the ranks of journalists selected to spend the upcoming academic year at distinguished U.S. universities to study and develop special projects.
About a month ago, the MemeNews project started sending a daily bulletin with news headlines and summaries focusing on the Brazilian Legislative, Judicial and Executive branches. But more than being a newsletter, MemeNews wants to engage its readers in the stories they report using one of the best inventions of the internet: memes.