About 18 people impersonating Mexican reporters of the news station Televisa were arrested at the border between Nicaragua and Honduras on Friday, Aug. 24, and were accused of money laundering and organized crime, according to El Nuevo Diario.
After circulating for more than 30 years, the Uruguayan newspaper UNoticias announced it is ending its print edition and moving exclusively online as of Monday, Aug. 27, according to the news portal El País.
On Monday, Aug. 27, Brazilian civil society organizations launched the campaign "Freedom of Expression--A New Law for a New Time," reported the National Forum for the Democratization of Communication. The campaign marks the 50th anniversary of the Brazilian Telecommunications Law and calls for a new "general communication law" that defends plurality, diversity, and equal access to media and telecommunications in the South American country.
On Thursday, Aug. 23, the Colombian Supreme Court announced a libel lawsuit against a journalist, and criticized commentaries published by another journalist, reported the newspaper El Tiempo and the magazine Semana. The court was upset over the columns that questioned and criticized some of the court's decisions.
Some 200 people are working on the publication "No se mata la verdad matando periodistas" (Don't Kill the Truth by Killing Journalists), a book that will tell the stories of 126 killed or disappeared reporters and press workers in Mexico since 2000, according to Reporte Índigo.
The Bolivian government said that it would sue the Fides News Agency (ANF in Spanish) for alleged defamation against Bolivian President Evo Morales, although the case is still being analyzed by a legal team, reported the newspaper Los Tiempos.
On Monday, Aug. 20, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) declared the blockade on the circulation of newspapers in Argentina a "press freedom violation." “While the unions have a legitimate right to express themselves, their actions cannot limit the right to press freedom nor restrict people’s access to the information that the news media disseminate," IAPA said.
A reporter from the Brazilian newspaper Jornal da Tarde, in São Paulo, will run for city council this year 2012 elections in order to cover the campaign from a different perspective, reported the newspaper's website.
A new program from the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET in Spanish) in Mexico aims to reduce the emotional and mental stress journalists covering organized crime and violence face in their jobs, announced the organization.
In another ruling in favor of press freedom, on Tuesday, Aug. 21, a court in São Paulo, Brazil, rejected a $3.5 million lawsuit against the TV station TV Globo, reported Conjur.
What can be done to improve media coverage of international migration in the Americas? More than 50 journalists, specialists, and NGO representatives met in 2011, in Austin, TX, to discuss this issue. The highlights of their discussion is now available in a digital booklet by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, "Media Coverage of Migration in the Americas," which can be downloaded in Spanish and English.
On Monday, Aug. 20, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo announced the launch of the website FolhaSPDados, an online resource for the up-coming mayoral elections in the city of São Paulo. The website will feature interactive maps and infographics to illustrate and accompany the newspaper's coverage of the election's main themes.