During the pandemic, community journalists and doctors from local clinics warned that the official figures did not reflect the reality of the number of Covid 19 cases in the favelas. LabJaca, the data and information journalism laboratory, was born in the pandemic in the favela of Jacarezinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to inform the population there.
Guatemalan journalist Michelle Mendoza, a CNN correspondent, has been in exile for six months after years of being harassed and threatened because of her journalism. Even while outside of Guatemala, she continues to receive calls and messages with the intention of intimidating her and keeping her from returning. In this interview, she discusses her situation and the harassment she has suffered.
Faced with the recent escalation of attacks on freedoms of the press and expression in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, journalists from these countries have come together to create the Red Centroamericana de Periodistas [Central American Network of Journalists]. Guatemalan Marielos Monzón, one of the Network’s founders, spoke to LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) about the goals and lines of work of this initiative in defense of journalism and the citizens’ right to be informed.
During the LATAM Festival of Digital Media and Journalism, journalists from Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela shared how they go around the opacity and hostility of their governments. They agreed that the lack of transparency and access to information can cost human lives.
Journalists, communicators, and researchers have created COLO - Coletivo de Jornalismo Infantojuvenil [Children and Youth Journalism Collective] - to organize and strengthen the market for news content for children and adolescents in Brazil. Acting together, the group wants to overcome prejudice against journalism created for children and teenagers in newsrooms and the advertising market.
Venezuela has been subjected to a dismantling of its media ecosystem in recent decades. During the year 2022, at least 95 radio stations have been closed in the country, Zulia state being the most affected. These closures seriously undermine citizens' right to know and the conditions to practice journalism.
One journalist murdered, another shot at and another arrested and beaten by the police are the latest victims of a wave of violence against the press in Haiti, a country where eight journalists have been killed so far this year. At the same time, the social-political crisis and poverty are slowly suffocating the Haitian media.
As part of the 2022 Gabo Festival, which returned to its in-person version this year and made its debut at its new venue in Bogota, Colombia, several awards were presented to outstanding journalistic works from around the region. On Oct. 21, the 2022 Recognition of Excellence Gabo Award was presented to Mexican writer, journalist, chronicler, and critic Juan Villoro for his renowned and extensive career.
Carlos Dada and his team at El Faro have illuminated the dark corners of his country and surrounding region since he co-founded the outlet — the first digital-only media initiative in Latin America — with entrepreneur Jorge Simán in 1998. For doing so, they have drawn the ire of an increasingly authoritarian Salvadoran government.
The seventh edition of the Brazilian Conference on Data Journalism and Digital Methods - Coda.Br, which runs from Oct. 31st to Nov. 6th, will once again have a face-to-face event in São Paulo. The conference will include people from around the world who want to follow panels and workshops online, as a celebration of the legacy of American journalist Philip Meyer, who coined the term "precision journalism" to designate the work with data in the profession.
In addition to the podcast, the Querino Project has a series of feature articles published in the Piauí magazine. More than 40 professionals worked for two years and eight months on the research and production. Inspired by the New York Times' Project 1619, Querino brings an Afro-centric look at the history of Brazil to contribute to the understanding of the country's current political and social challenges.
Researchers Summer Harlow, Ryan Wallace and Lourdes Cueva Chacón published on Oct. 7 the research entitled “Digital (In)Security in Latin America: The Dimensions of Social Media Violence against the Press and Journalists’ Coping Strategies.” The study reveals that social media violence needs to be taken as seriously as offline/physical violence.