Cybersecurity, legal shields and working in alliances are some of the fundamental factors to consider when conducting journalistic investigations on corruption issues in Latin America, according to speakers on the Corruption Coverage panel, held during the 11th Ibero-American Colloquium of Digital Journalism in Austin, Texas on April 15, 2018.
"With deep regret, I regret to report that the assassination of our compatriots has been confirmed," Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno wrote on his Twitter account on the early afternoon of Friday, April 13. The president publicly confirmed the death of the two journalists and the driver from newspaper El Comercio, who were kidnapped at the end of March by a dissident group of the FARC.
From the Paraguayan capital of Asunción, a group of professionals –including journalists, designers, illustrators and photographers– has been working for the last three years to build new digital journalistic narratives aimed at the country’s youth. Memetic Media, a non-profit association founded in 2016, brings together three media projects that share innovations in format, language and journalistic approach. The intent is to engage those neglected audiences, according to the editors.
On April 4, the Civil Police of the State of Goiás handed the Brazilian justice system the completed investigation of the murder of radio journalist Jefferson Pureza, who was killed in the city of Edealina on January 17 of this year. The police investigation concluded that councillor José Eduardo Alves da Silva, of the Party of the Republic (PR), ordered the crime and should be charged with double-qualified homicide, for trivial motive and for payment, according to G1.
At least 19 journalists and media professionals were attacked in various cities in Brazil between April 5 and 7 while working to cover former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2011) going to jail, according to records from the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji). The assaults, which came from supporters of Lula and the Military Police, were repudiated by press organizations in Brazil and Latin America.
Two journalists with the Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio and their driver, who authorities say were abducted on March 26 by FARC dissident groups, were shown alive in a video broadcast on Colombian station RCN. The abduction took place close to a military checkpoint in Mataje, in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas that borders the Colombian border, according to El Comercio.
Mexican and U.S. media outlets, as well as Spanish journalists and photographers, were announced as the winners of the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Awards from Spanish newspaper El País.
When Martha Ortiz accepted the offer to completely overhaul El Colombiano, a century-old newspaper in Medellin, Colombia, she resolved to question everything the news industry believed. Then she did it with remarkable results.
Two former policemen found guilty of the 2015 murder of Veracruz journalist and activist Moisés Sánchez Cerezo were sentenced to 25 years in prison and the payment of about $18,000 in civil reparations, according to Animal Político.
Haitian National Police (PNH, for its initials in French) said on April 4 that it has detained two people allegedly related to the disappearance of photojournalist Vladjimir Legagneur who was last seen on March 14.
A team of three journalists from Ecuadoran newspaper El Comercio were abducted on March 26 in northern Ecuador in Mataje in the province of Esmeraldas near the country’s border with Colombia.
That phrase had never made so much sense for journalism in the country as when journalist and media businessman Daniel Eilemberg chose a green-headed bird as the central character of what would become one of Mexico's most influential digital native news media outlets.