The National Newspaper Association (ANJ), the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters, and the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) condemned statements by President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva that he will “ defeat the papers and magazines that behave as if they were political parties,” O Globo reports.
A group of renowned investigative journalists from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, who had gathered for the 8th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas, issued a declaration condemning the violence against journalists that is threatening freedom of expression from Mexico to the Southern Cone.
Authorities warned journalist Esteban Rosario that there was a plot against his life, Diario Libre reports. Several alleged killers would have received $25,000 for the reporters’ death.
Day two of the 8th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas on Saturday, Sept. 18, at the University of Texas at Austin kicked off with journalists from South and Central America and Eastern Europe discussing how reporters and journalism organizations can cooperate across borders to better cover organized crime.
Argentina's consumer defense office issued a $1.25 million fine to Cablevisión, the Internet provider of the media company Grupo Clarín, accusing the company of selling Internet access with an expired license from Fibertel, reported El Siglo de Tucumán.
News that a 21-year-old photography intern was shot to death Thursday in Ciudad Juárez, and that his 18-year-old colleague was wounded, increased the sense of urgency for members of 40 journalist training and safety organizations who gathered in Austin, Texas, Friday and Saturday (Sept. 17–18) for the 8th Austin Forum on Journalism in the Americas. The annual gathering focuses this year on the coverage of drug trafficking and organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Just days before the Venezuelan parliamentary elections, representatives from the opposition Democratic Unity Coalition filed a complaint with the National Electoral Board (CNE) alleging that President Hugo Chavez was abusing the media by using them to campaign for candidates supportive of Chavez's party, reported El Universal.
During a presentation Friday, Sept. 17, to more than 40 public policy, Latin American studies, government and sociology students at the University of Texas at Austin, Salvadoran journalists Oscar Martinez and Carlos Dada of ElFaro.net explained how the multi-media news website put together a project looking at the dangerous path of undocumented Central American migrants through Mexico.
A photographer from the newspaper El Diario de Juárez was shot to death Thursday, Sept. 16, in a mall parking lot in Ciudad Juarez, ground zero for the drug trafficking violence in Mexico and just along the border with the United States, according to CNN. Another photographer, an intern at the newspaper, was seriously injured in the shoooting, according to the Associated Press.
After media and journalism groups strongly criticized the anti-racism bill that passed the Chamber of Deputies last week, the Senate has invited journalists to discuss the issue today (Sept. 16), Los Tiempos reports.
The federal prosecutor’s office has accused TV Globo and the Group of 13 soccer consortium of engaging in unfair trade practices in negotiating broadcasting contracts for the Campeonato Brasileiro, the country’s top soccer division.
Military police accompanied by a court official confiscated television sets, cameras, furniture, and even the transmitters of the television channell TV Descalvados, affiliate of the SBT network in the town of Cáceres, in the western state of Mato Grosso, reported Midia News. The seizure, which forced the channel off the air, was court-ordered to pay for "moral damages" inflicted on the city's first lady, Gisele Fontes, according tol Diário de Cuiabá.