Hugo Olivera Cartas was killed Tuesday morning after being shot three times. The body was found in a pickup truck on a road between the cities of Tepalcatepec and Aguililla in the western state of Michoacán, reports the news agency Quadratín, where the journalist worked. (See this Associated Press article in English.)
Leila Guerriero was named Iberoamerican New Journalism prize winner in the text category for her work “Rastro en los huesos” (Trail in the bones), published in the magazine Gatopardo. The report was chosen from among nearly 1,000 entries, announced the Iberoamerican New Journalism Foundation (FNPI).
The journalists’ union at La Nación has proposed turning the state-run paper into an autonomous public media outlet with mixed financing, UPI reports.
The attorney general’s office decided to restructure the Special Prosecutor for Crimes against Journalists, which will now focus specifically on crimes against media workers who are attacked for their profession, El Universal and EFE report.
The official voice of Cuba's Communist party, the newspaper Granma, reported that Guillermo Fariñas is at risk of dying after nearly 130 days of a hunger strike. In an extensive interview, the chief of the intensive care unit of the hospital where Fariñas is staying said doctors have done just about all they can to save his life.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez upped his verbal attacks against opposition television station Globovisión, and reiterated that the government could confiscate the channel's stock in order to recuperate the money he alleges the station owners stole, reported El Universal and the Associated Press.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) condemned an “aggressive" television ad campaign by the government of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa against independent news media.
A cameraman for Jamaican television station CVM was assaulted by police and then temporarily detained for attempting to film an alleged police shooting of a shopkeeper in St. Ann, reported RJR News.
The newspaper Jornal do Brasil, published for 119 years in Rio de Janeiro, is conducting research among its readers to decide whether to do away with the print version and offer only a digital edition. The newspaper published a half-page announcement on June 30 inviting its readers to respond.
In a letter to the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Mexican President Felipe Calderón acknowledges a letter CPJ sent him a month ago about the increase in the number of cases of attacks and harassment by security forces against the press. The president said that the complaint was sent to the Attorney General's office, which will offer a response.
Vicky Peláez will be placed under house arrest and be forced to wear an electronic monitor, while the other nine suspects arrested for spying for Russia remain in custody, reported Reuters. Bail for the Peruvian journalist was set at $250,000, and she could be released as soon as next week, added El Comercio.
The government of Álvaro Colom has denounced a supposed plot to destabilize the country by various groups who are supported by "biased media" that "sell their pens to the highest bidder,” reported Siglo XXI and EFE.