Argentina's labor minister, Carlos Tomada, has promised to guarantee continued employment for journalists and other employees whose jobs were threatened with the closure of the newspaper Crítica, according to the blog of the newspaper workers. The are to be hired by other media, whether private or government-owned, the blog said.
The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that radio and television stations now are free to broadcast political satire and jokes about election candidates. They also can issue opinions for or against candidates in news and editorial programs, as long as they don't serve as propaganda, reported O Estado de S. Paulo.
Watchdog reporting in traditional news outlets is on the decline, and new nonprofit investigative journalism ventures are doing their best to fill the void, according to a new article in the American Journalism Review (AJR).
One day after a shooting attack in Mazatlán, the newspaper Noroeste received new threatening phone calls, including messages demanding $15,000 in exchange for not blowing up the newspaper's building, reported EFE and Noroeste. Employees were evacuated because of the threats.
In the middle of August, the newspaper La Prensa in Nicaragua said it was firing 23 delivery workers, but the Labor Ministry ordered their rehiring, which according to the newspaper — a strong opponent of President Daniel Ortega— is part of a “political persecution” trying to restrict freedoms of press and opinion.
According to C-Libre/IFEX, the harassment against Radio Uno in the city of San Pedro Sula has escalated during the past three months and this week its broadcast signal was interrupted when unknown persons cut the electricity to the station's transmitters.
Forced into exile in the United States more than 30 years ago for covering human rights abuses in Argentina during the military dictatorship (1976-1983), the London-born journalist Robert Cox now has returned to Argentina to write for the Buenos Aires Herald, that newspaper reported.
A man on a motorcycle shot five times at journalist Marco Tulio Valencia who was on his way to his home in Mariquita the night of Aug. 30, reported El Nuevo Día. The bullets hit a wall and window, but Valencia was uninjured.
Argentina's President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner published on Wednesday, Sept. 1, a decree (PDF file) that outlines regulations implementing the Audiovisual Media law. The law limits the number of radio and television licenses that can be granted to the same company, and will be enforced immediately, said Gabriel Mariotto, the director of the Federal Authority of Audiovisual Communication Services, in an interview with the official news agency Télam.
The prosecution of Bolivia has sued three journalists for "using the media to induce people to commit crimes," stemming from a case of violence and racism against indigenous peasants in the city of Sucre on May 24, 2008, reported Erbol.
In light of the on-going attempts at government regulation throughout Latin America, according to the National Press Association (ANP) of Bolivia, 13 of its affiliated newspapers have come out in favor of self-regulation and ratified their support for Article 107 of the Constitution: “Information and opinions transmitted via the media should respect the principles of honesty and accountability. These principles shall be exercised by the rules of ethics and self-regulation of journalist and media organizations and their n
The outside of the newspaper Noroeste in the city of Mazatlán was attacked at dawn by an organized crime group just hours after threatening calls were made to the publication, reported the agency DPA and Noroeste.