Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work defending freedom of expression, was denied permission to leave the island to visit Brazil, according to the website Terra. The blogger tweeted that this was the 19th time she has been denied the right to enter and leave the country.
Still frustrated with the New York City Police Department's treatment of reporters covering the Occupy Wall Street protests, a group of journalists and media organizations sent a second letter to police, demanding "more steps to resolve reporter access issues," according to the Associated Press (AP).
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released a report criticizing pending Ecuadorian electoral reforms that will prohibit the press from covering political campaigns and elections. According to CPJ, the electoral reform will go into effect Saturday, Feb. 4.
Accusations on Twitter and other social networks led the Journalistic Observatory to investigate claims that executives of the official Guatemalan newspaper, Diario de Centro América, forced employees to stay inside the building and took away their cellphones, according to the Guatemalan Center for Investigative Reports.
In an effort to "find the right people to offer insight, perspectives and ideas on the issues of the day," Canada's Calgary Herald has introduced a new initiative allowing potential sources to register with the newspaper, the Herald reported. Known as "Be a Source," the system encourages anyone with "an area of expertise," whether "politics, health care or playing the kazoo," to sign up as a source to be contacted by journalists.
Norwegian officials nominated Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez and Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Payá for the Nobel Peace Prize, reported the Spanish newspaper ABC.
The 26-year-old Brazilian newspaper Já was forced to close after a court sentenced the publication to pay damages to the mother of the ex-governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Germano Rigotto, reported the newspaper O Expresso on Jan. 26. The newspaper had a circulation of five thousand in the city of Porto Alegre.
The Cuban Union of Journalists (UPEC in Spanish), a syndicate aligned with the Cuban government, demanded greater access to information from official sources, according to a statement by the union.
In two separate events, police attacked journalists in Mexico on Jan. 30. A reporter from the newspaper Noroeste was beaten by judicial police and his camera was taken, reported the same publication. Hours later, the reporter recovered his camera but the officers had deleted the photos he had taken of a skirmish in which three soldiers died in the city of Guasave, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa.
The Venezuelan hacker group N33 took over the Twitter accounts of two journalists critical of President Hugo Chávez, reported the weekly magazine Sexto Poder. The group is also responsible for other cyber attacks against opposition members, and is considered a growing threat to freedom of expression in the South American country.
An Argentine photojournalist received text messages threatening his life after he did not photograph a musical group performing at a Carnival celebration in Corrientes, Argentina, reported CorrientesHoy.
On Jan. 27, a a marathon of hearings started for the Brazilian news website Congresso em Foco following the publication of a series of reports detailing salaries paid to politicians, judges and civil servants above the constitutional limit, the website reported.