The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded a “thorough investigation” into the killing of crime reporter Carlos Guajardo to determine if members of the army shot him.
The editor responsible for judicial coverage at El Tiempo newspaper, Jineth Bedoya Lima, received threats from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after releasing her book about el “Mono Jojoy,” the guerrilla leader killed in September, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) reports.
The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) and the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) have announced a joint summit focusing on violence against journalists working along the U.S.-Mexican border.
The 66th Inter American Press Association (IAPA) Assembly took place in Mérida, Mexico, where the group warned that press freedom in the continent was threatened by violence and political repression, The Canadian Press reports.
The city outskirts, or peripheries, comprise a third of the Brazilian population. Because these communities traditionally are ignored by mainstream media – except in matters where stereotypes dominate – a citizen journalism project created by the Brazilian journalist Bruno Garcez, 38 years old, is aimed at covering these neighborhoods in a more complete and accurate way. With a fellowship from the Knight Foundation, offered by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), Bruno took a year off from his position
Héctor Camero, a member of the Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) community radio station, was notified last week of his two-year prison sentence and fine of US$1,200 for the crime of developing and using a radio frequency without authorization, the World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC) reports via IFEX. The sentence also suspends his civil and political rights.
The National Archive of Brazil’s Revealed Memories project (Memórias Reveladas) – created to facilitate the release of dictatorship-era documents (1964-1985) – is now at the center of a debate between journalists and the authorities after its refusal to release documents during the election, O Globo reports. The document project justified its decision by claiming “journalists were misusing documents and seeking data about candidates involved in the electoral campaign.”
Bolivian journalists and news media say the controversial Law Against Racism and all Forms of Discrimination, which was sanctioned Oct. 8 to take effect next January, is already being applied.
In an interview with Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, says he has information about Brazil that could have “shaken the electoral pretensions of some people.” Assange refused to reveal that information and said he had been unable to publish it due to the recent release of such a large quantity of documents about Iraq.
Member countries of the UN Human Rights Council criticized Honduras and sought more information about human right violations since the coup that unseated President Manuel Zelaya, and about the killings of nine journalists in 2010, Inter Press Service reports. (See this earlier story in English).
Police reporter Carlos Alberto Guajardo of Expreso newspaper died while covering a shootout between the Mexican military and criminal gangs in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the Brownsville Herald reports.
Several journalist and freedom of expression organizations criticized the press protection measures used by the authorities, which they said lack the resources and scope to attack the problem at its roots, El Diario de Juárez reports.