Six months ago, 50 million tons of toxic waste was spilled into the Doce River from an iron ore mine in the city of Mariana in "the worst environmental disaster Brazil has ever seen," as qualified by President Dilma Rouseff, according to DW. The spill killed 19 people and destroyed the Bento Rodrigues district in the state of Minas Gerais.
Live Facebook video debates with scientists, reports about the social consequences of microcephaly, data visualization projects and infographics to show how it spreads. The emergence of the Zika virus as a global pandemic has forced Brazilian journalists to adopt a wide range of storytelling techniques and tools to cover the various aspects of this health emergency.
Police have detained a man allegedly involved in the murder of Mexican journalist Anabel Flores Salazar whose murder authorities said was motivated by her work as a journalist.
Peruvian, Mexican and Colombian journalists received the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Awards from Spanish newspaper El País in Madrid on May 5.
Honduran journalist Félix Molina who was attacked twice in one day on May 2 has said he is considering leaving the country.
Journalists and freedom of expression advocates around the globe celebrated World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
Due to a judicial order, service of WhatsApp was blocked for one day starting May 2 for about 100 million Brazilians who use the messaging application. The measure had immediate repercussions among journalists who are accustomed to using the application for communication and also on news organizations that use it to distribute information and interact with readers.
Media outlets and freedom of speech advocacy organizations from around the world came together to honor World Press Freedom Day, celebrated every May 3 since its proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993.
On April 22, 2016, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights received a complaint against the Brazilian State for the 1975 death of journalist Vladimir Herzog during the country’s military dictatorship. According to the newspaper O Globo, "the Federal Attorney General has already been notified" and the Court must now hear from those involved to decide whether to accept the complaint.
Peruvian journalist Rafael Léon was sentenced for the crime of defamation on May 3, according to newspaper La República. The sentence, which coincided with the celebration of World Press Freedom Day, requires Léon to pay 6,000 Peruvian soles (about U.S. $1,800) in civil damages and to undergo a one-year probationary period in which he must comply with rules of conduct that include not moving homes and offering to sign a monthly record.
Starting June 2, broadcasters in Mexico may legally transmit information in any of the native languages of the country that are recognized as national languages, including indigenous languages.
On April 30 in Mexico City, Federal Police arrested a man suspected of murdering Moisés Dagdug Lutzow, Mexican media businessman and former federal congressman. Dagdug was stabbed to death at his home in Villahermosa, Tabasco on Feb. 20, according to news site Animal Político.