In another example of news organizations jumping the gun as false information spreads like wildfire across Twitter, U.S. media outlets prematurely reported the death of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, driving home the lesson that "social media tools do not need to force news organizations to compromise their standards," according to The New York Times.
Police in Uruguay's second largest city, Salto, opened an internal investigation on Jan. 19 to determine responsibility for an attack on the reporter Luis Díaz for the newspaper El Pueblo, reported the publication.
Following the Mexican Electoral Court's decision to investigate more than 60 radio and television stations for interviewing candidates for the governorship of the state of Michoacán, the National Congress of the Radio and Television Industry sent a letter to the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE in Spanish) asking for clarification of the rules regarding the broadcasting of debates, reported the newspaper Milenio.
O conglomerado de mídia News Corp., do polêmico empresário Rupert Murdoch, e o canal RCN Televisión da Colômbia anunciaram uma aliança para criar uma emissora de televisão em espanhol nos Estados Unidos para competir com Univision e Telemundo, informou o jornal The Wall Street Journal.
Human Rights Watch's 2012 World Report, released on Jan. 22, 2012, accuses the Venezuelan government of trying to control independent media and the judiciary in order to silence opposition voices, reported the website Uol.
Controversial businessman Rupert Murdoch's media giant News Corp. and Colombia's RCN Televisión announced a partnership to launch a Spanish-language television channel in the United States to compete with Univision and Telemundo, reported The Wall Street Journal.
The Chilean government announced that it will withdraw the "Hinzpeter Bill," a proposal that would have permitted authorities to demand media companies turn over their archives to the police without a warrant, reported ANSA.
A Spanish journalist jailed in Cuba for 17 months over allegations of sexually exploiting minors after reporting on child prostitution on the island for the television station Telecinco arrived back in Madrid on Jan. 17, reported the news agency EFE.
U.S. online advertising spending is expected to surpass print for the first time this year, according to a study released Thursday, Jan. 19, by eMarketer, reported AdAge, adding that this would "represent a watershed in the media business." Forbes noted that such a forecast means "digital remains the sole bright spot for newspapers and magazines," as print ad revenue dropped 9.3 percent to $20.7 billion in 2011, the report said.
U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich faced off with CNN's John King during the South Carolina debate Thursday, Jan, 19, accusing the "destructive, vicious, negative" media of making it "harder to govern this country," reported Politico. Following the debate, which King moderated, CNN’s David Gergen said on the air that Gingrich's anti-media rant represented "one of the harshest attacks that we’ve had on the press that I can remember in a long, long time,” Politico added.
The Mexican Supreme Court will review an appeal from oil businessmen against journalists from the magazine Contralínea charged with libel, reported the news agency Notimex.
Despite the Internet's essential role in journalism today, few reporters take the issue of cyber security seriously. Recent cyber attacks on journalists in Venezuela reinforce the fact that the Internet is not without its risks.