As Colombia commemorated the Day of the Journalist on Saturday, Feb. 9, the president of the Venezuelan National Union of Journalists (CNP in Spanish), Tinedo Guía -- who was visiting the Venezuelan state of Táchira at the invitation of the North Santander Journalist Circle, a Colombian organization -- warned about the difficulties reporters face in his country, reported El Universal.
The Brazilian newspaper Diario da Região reported that city councilman Cesar Gelsi threatened a political reporter for the publication, Rodrigo Lima. The threats followed articles the journalist published calling Gelsi "the living-dead of politics" and included him in a list of officials charged with failing to pay backed taxes.
The Mexican newspaper El Siglo de Torreón announced the release of five of its employees who were kidnapped for 10 hours between the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 7, and the early morning of Friday, Feb. 8.
Regina Martínez, a Mexican journalist who was killed in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz last year, will have a street in Oviedo, Spain named after her, reported news agency EFE.
The Mexican Supreme Court declared laws that restrict information presented as part of a preliminary investigation are unconstitutional and restrict the public's right to access information, reported the newspaper Reforma.
Mexican reporter Marcela Turati received on Thursday Feb. 7 the Louis Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism, awarded each year by the Nieman Fellows at Harvard University.
The British newspaper the Guardian released a statement admitting that Mexican television broadcaster Televisa' elections coverage complied with the Federal Election Institute's impartiality rules.
On Feb. 5, security officers at the Venezuelan National Assembly prevented reporters from privately-owned newspapers from covering an event at the country's legislature in the capital, Caracas, reported the website La Patilla.
The owner of radio station Sin Fronteras 98.5 FM Marcelino Váquez was gunned down and killed on Wednesday Feb. 6 in front of his work place in Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay, near the border with Brazil, website Paraguay.com informed.
President of the Venezuelan National Journalists' Union (CNP in Spanish), Tinedo Guía, requested more protection for journalists who cover the country's legislature, reported the newspaper El Universal. On Tuesday, Feb. 5, reporters from private media organizations were prevented from covering an event at the National Assembly in Caracas.
Media organizations and journalists top the list of the most influential Twitter users in Peru, according to a report done by the analysis firm Quantico Trends and published Feb. 4. Among the Top 20 most influential Tweeters are 14 users who are considered media organizations or journalists.
A Venezuelan security agency open an inquiry into a journalist with the purpose of pressing charges against him for "instigating crime" with his articles about the killing of a prison gang leader in the city of Maracaibo, according to the website El Oriente.