The commentary Kowanin Silva, of the newspaper Vanguardia de Saltillo, wrote here last week [April 18] about the use of social networks to break the information blockade, was very correct, as publishing on Facebook or Twitter helps a newspaper to get information out immediately.
Colombian journalists nationwide plan to take to the streets May 3 for a “march of silence” against the growing wave of threats by paramilitary groups against journalists and human rights groups, El Espectador and CM& report.
Bolivian journalist Luis Zabala Farell, who had been in prison since Jan. 17 for allegedly instigating violence on his radio show, was freed Thursday, April 14, but is not allowed to discuss his case, El Diario reports.
A federal court has overturned a ruling that journalist’s from Contralínea weekly had caused moral harm to several executives for stories alleging contract irregularities with the state oil company Pemex, Misión Política reports.
Bolivian journalist Luis Zabala Farell, who had been in prison since Jan. 17 for allegedly instigating violence on his radio show, was freed Thursday, April 14, but is not allowed to discuss his case, El Diario reports.
The Parliamentary Front for Freedom of Expression and the Right to Communication with Popular Participation was launched by Brazilian lawmakers on April 19, Agência Câmara dos Deputados reports.
Paraguay journalism groups have denounced what they call the “persecutory attitude” of the management at Canal 9 TV Cerro Corá in their actions against its employees, which came to a peak when the station abruptly canceled a news show after 17 years on the air, Paraguay.com reports.
The director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, condemned the April 9 killing of Brazilian journalist Luciano Leitão Pedrosa.
Last week the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a report criticizing the use of libel laws in Ecuador to silence critical speech, prompting Ecuador to reject the report, saying the commission was acting outside of its jurisdiction, Terra reports.
Italian journalist and professor Giovanni Proiettis, a resident of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas for 18 years, was summarily deported back to his home country April 15, Proceso reports.
What was supposed to be a debate about the Middle East on the program Manhattan Connection, on the Brazilian channel Globonews, ended up creating a diplomatic crisis between Brazil and Jordan when the journalist Caio Blinder called Queen Rania de Jordania a “piranha” while commenting about first ladies of the region, reported The Telegraph.
Violence in Saltillo has increased in recent months, putting us in new risky situations where social media is a way to break the silence enforced by criminal groups. It is not the best substitute, but considering the lack of protection journalists in Coahuila state have, there is no other option.