Journalists in the interior of Brazil are complaining of various attacks and threats involving politicians and their parties during the ongoing election period. Journalist Bruno de Lima, from the small state of Paraíba, in the northeast of the country, said he had received death threats after publishing stories about pedophilia in the state, explained Paraíba Agora.
A driver, a security guard and a technician from TV Brasil were assaulted by a group of 10 armed robbers on Tuesday, Aug. 10, in the Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro, reported O Globo. The victims were in the park repairing a broadcast antenna.
The office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed “deep concern” over threats received by Fausto Rosario Adames, the editor of the now-closed newspapers Clave and Clave Digital, after he had published articles about drug trafficking.
Faced with systematic attacks against journalists and the media in parts of Mexico, the United Nations (U.N.) and the Organization of American States (OAS) have proposed a new risk category for reporters who work in conflict zones that aren't within the definition of war outlined by international treaties, reported La Jornada.
One fourth of adults worldwide read a daily newspaper everyday, according to the annual "World Press Trends" report, explained Editor & Publisher.
The following account is a testimony from Marcela Turati, of the Red de Periodistas de a Pie (On-the-ground Journalists Network), one of the organizers of the unprecedented demonstrations in Mexico protesting the violence against journalists.
More than 1,000 reporters, editors, camera operators and photographers took to the streets in Mexico City and other towns in 11 states in defense of freedom of expression, calling for an end to violence against journalists, which has claimed at least 64 lives in the last decade, and left another 11 missing, reported the Latin American Herald Tribune and CBS News.
The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it is important to change parts of the proposed communications law in Ecuador in order to protect freedom of expression.
Mexican photogrpaher Alejandro Cossío, of the weekly ZETA in Tijuana, was awarded for his work “Mexico at the Breaking Point,” announced the Ibero-American New Journalism Foundation (FNPI).
Rodolfo Flórez, who has been missing since July 9, was found in Cali on Aug. 5 in good health, but confused and upset, reported the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) via IFEX.
Ex-Cuban president, Fidel Castro, who reappeared before international press in a special Parliamentary session on Saturday, Aug. 7, gave his first interview in four years to a group of Venezuelan journalists, to whom he spoke about the possibility of nuclear war, U.S. President Barack Obama, and the Afghanistan War, reported the newspaper La Jornada and the Cuban News Agency.
Colombian Carina Solano Padilla received the Hellman/Hammett grant, from the organization Human Rights Watch, for journalists and writers who have faced political persecution, reported the news agency DPA.