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In Bolivia, journalists criticize access to information bill; in Peru, transparency law is not used enough

For Bolivian investigative journalist Raúl Peñaranda, a columnist and former director of the independent newspaper Página Siete, access to information in his country is extremely limited.

Jamaica fully abolishes criminal defamation, an unprecedented legislative action in the Caribbean

The Jamaican Parliament passed a bill on Nov. 5 that fully abolishes criminal defamation within the nation. The move is unprecedented in the Caribbean, where international and local organizations have pressured the region's governments to draft similar legislation.

Director of controversial documentary receives new death threats, blames Mexico City judge

Roberto Hernández, the Mexican director of the controversial documentary “Presunto Culpable,” reported on Monday having received new death threats and is accusing the president of Mexico City's Court of Justice, Edgar Elías Azar, of being behind them, Aristegui Noticias reported. 

Transparency laws present professional, institutional challenges in Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua

After decades of a culture of virtually impenetrable secrecy within the Mexican government, in 2002 Mexico passed the Federal Access to Information and Personal Data Protection Act. Since then, it has become an often-cited model of how other governments should draft their own transparency laws.

Plenty of work remains to fulfill promise of transparency laws, says National Security Archive’s Tom Blanton

It’s been almost 40 years since Tom Blanton filed his first public information request. Since then, Blanton, the current director of the nonprofit National Security Archive, has become a leading authority in access to information and been directly involved in the release of tens of thousands of documents declassified by the U.S. government.

Producers of Mexican documentary on court corruption sued for $2 billion in damages

Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete, the producers of the Mexican documentary “Presumed Guilty,” are facing three different civil lawsuits for over two billion dollars in the Superior Court of Justice in Mexico City (TSJDF).

Growing criticism over the detention of journalists in Venezuela

The detention of three Venezuelan reporters on Nov. 2 by the Military Police, which lasted over seven hours, continues to generate outrage among the media community after it was discovered that the government had summoned the journalists to the conference where they were detained.

Government censorship in Venezuela increased by 87% compared to 2012, organizations say

So far this year, there have been 71 cases of censorship of journalists and media in Venezuela, meaning 87 percent more cases than there were over the same period last year, according to Venezuelan organizations that defend freedom of expression and information access that spoke about the situation in their country on Oct. 31 before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) during its 149th session.

Poderopedia, the Chilean data journalism platform, plans to expand to Venezuela and Colombia

In late 2012 Chilean journalist Miguel Paz, an ICFJ Knight International Journalism fellow, launched with a group of colleagues a data journalism platform called Poderopedia, which helps reveal the network of relationships between business and government elites in Chile.

Maria Moors Cabot award winners reflect on conflict reporting in Central America, press freedom in Cuba

For photographer, documentary maker and University of Texas journalism professor Donna DeCesare, full immersion is the only way for a journalist to build the deep relationships of mutual trust necessary to report truthfully about a conflict.

October protest in Mexico City was one of the most violent for the press, report found

With a final tally of 46 Mexican journalists and human rights defenders attacked on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013 in the march commemorating the 1968 student massacre at Tlatelolco, the organization Article 19 described this attack on freedom of expression as the most violent in Mexico City during a social protest rally.

Argentina’s Clarín drafts plan to divide into 6 companies to comply with media law

The Argentine media conglomerate Grupo Clarín has drafted a plan to comply with the country's media law that would consist in dividing its audiovisual licenses between six business units.​