First he went on television and radio. Next, he started tweeting. Now, President Chávez has launched an official blog to communicate with Venezuelans, ABC and Europa Press report.
Bloggers in Jamaica have been covering for many months the series of events that led to this week’s violence and state of emergency in Jamaica over the government’s decision to extradite an alleged drug lord to the United States. Global Voices Online’s Janine Mendes-Franco compiles reports from bloggers and social media users, as does Robert Mackey for The New York Times.
Independent journalist Guillermo (Coco) Fariñas has refused food for nearly three months to protest treatment of political prisoners on the island. His story has been widely reported by English- and Spanish-language media. But on Saturday, he was the source of stories in foreign media that said the Havana regime had agreed to transfer ill prisoners to hospitals and to move prisoners being held far from their hometowns.
The station, La Voz de Bagua (The Voice of Bagua), is accused of inciting violence during disturbances in Peru's Amazon last June that left at least 30 people dead, EFE explains.
A computer technician has confessed to sending false emails to 180 court judges in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the name of journalist Chico Otavio of O Globo newspaper. The messages are said to have been sent at the request of a former high-ranking judge, Roberto Wider, who resigned from his job after a series of news reports co-authored by Otavio last year accused Wider of involvement in fraudulent sentencing deals, O Globo explains.
Journalist Gilvan Luiz Pereira, 41, was kidnapped and tortured by three hooded men Thursday night (May 20), in Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, the newspaper O Povo reports. Pereira is owner and editor of the regional newspaper “Sem Nome” (Without a name), which opposes the current municipal administration.
Public Security Minister Oscar Álvarez submitted a report to congress this week about the deaths of 10 Honduran media workers, seven of whom were killed this year, El Heraldo reports.
This week marks the sixth anniversary of the country’s transparency and information access law, but some say the way it works in practice leaves much to be desired, BBC Mundo reports.
The fifth annual freedom of expression award from the Casa América Catalunya honors the work of Diario Co Latino for its defense of freedom of expression and its struggle to solve crimes committed during El Salvador's civil war, EFE reports.
Leiderman Ortiz, editor of the newspaper La Verdad de Pueblo, was unharmed but is fearful for his life after the grenade damaged the front of his home in Caucasia, Antioquia, El Tiempo and El Mundo report.
The country's biggest media outlet announced that it would not report on the disappearance of former presidential candidate Diego Fernández de Cevallos until the investigation has concluded, drawing criticism from media and security experts, CNN México reports. (See articles in English by The Christian Science Monitor and the Associated Press.)
President Barack Obama is hosting his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderón this week on an official state visit to Washington that includes talks on bilateral issues such as immigration and drug violence on the U.S.–Mexico border. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the leaders to put Mexico’s press freedom crisis on their agenda.