A lawsuit to determine whether the owner of Argentina's Clarín press group, Ernestina Herrera de Noble, adopted two children 34 years ago from parents who disappeared during the military dictatorship took a crucial step Monday (June 7). Scientists began DNA tests on clothes surrendered by Marcela and Felipe Noble Herrera to see who their birth parents are, BBC reports. The Christian Science Monitor and London's Independent also cover the story.
A group of people in a car threw five Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of the Capriles newspaper chain, one of Venezuela's leading media conglomerates, Tal Cual and Últimas Noticias report.
Crítica newspaper of Buenos Aires stopped circulating more than a month ago when its 190 employees went on strike April 29 over not receiving their paychecks. Fearing the closure of the paper, the journalists united in a resistance movement, which includes a 24-hour camp-out in the newsroom and demonstrations in the street. (See this vídeo), and campaigns in a blog and on Twitter.
The debate over criminalization of opinions and information was swept under the rug again in Ecuador. The lawsuit against the opinion editor of El Universo newspaper, Emilio Palacio, ended in surprise after a high government official withdrew the libel charges against him, El Comercio and EFE report.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has written to President Felipe Calderón to express concern over several attacks and cases of harassment by federal forces against journalists who cover law enforcement.
Reporter Elisa Mejías and photojournalist Miguel Carrera, both of the newspaper La Prensa of Barquisimeto, died over the weekend when the car in which they were traveling overturned while they were being closely followed by another vehicle whose occupants presumably wanted to rob them, La Prensa and El Informador report. Two other journalists from the same newspaper were seriously wounded.
Two weeks before the second round of Colombia’s presidential election, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has released videos that show four police and a soldier held since the late 1990s are still alive, BBC and CNN report. The five hostages urge officials to hold talks with the rebels, BBC adds.
Journalists who cover environmental degradation are increasingly subject to threats and attacks, according to a new Reporters without Borders investigative report, “High-Risk Subjects: Deforestation and Pollution” (PDF file). Its publication is timed to coincide with World Environment Day (June 5).
The government's new so-called "situation agency" has the power to suppress "any information" deemed of national interest and will likely be seen as a further restriction by the Chávez administration of anti-government news, before legislative elections on Sept. 26, AFP reports.
It appears that the killing of reporter David Meza Montesinos will not go unpunished. After weeks of investigations, the attorney general has issued an arrest order against four people accused of killing the TV and radio reporter last March, Radio América and El Heraldo report.
Mexico's interior minister, Fernando Gómez Mont, demanded the press act responsibly, insisting that the violence prevailing in the country is caused by information spread by the media, El Universal and El Economista report.
A disagreement over a TV signal concession has ended President Sebastián Piñera’s attempt to sell Chilevisión to a domestic investment firm for $130 million, La Tercera and EFE report. (See this Reuters article in English.)