An investigation confirmed that the phones of 30 Salvadoran journalists were hacked with Pegasus spy software. The program was developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. In some cases, the dates of the intercepts coincide with journalistic investigations into the political landscape in El Salvador. These interceptions allow full control of the device: messages, calls and extraction of stored data.
For at least four years, journalist Juliana Dal Piva has been trying to “understand who is Jair Bolsonaro,” as she said in an interview with LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). She is perhaps one of the Brazilian journalists most dedicated to that mission. Read below the interview with Juliana Dal Piva, the first in the "Five Questions" series, which we are premiering at LJR. (The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity).
Blocking of journalists occurs systematically in El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela and Brazil. In most Latin American countries there is no law that regulates this situation, which threatens freedom of expression and journalistic work. In Mexico and Chile, officials are prohibited from blocking accounts, but sometimes regulations are not followed.
Peruvian journalist Christopher Acosta received a two-year suspended prison sentence in a trial for aggravated defamation and crimes against honor. The plaintiff is businessman and former presidential candidate César Acuña, on whom Acosta bases his journalistic investigation in the book "Plata como cancha."
Preparing physically and psychologically for coverage of protests is one of the most important aspects to prevent violence against the press. LatAm Journalism Review spoke with experts about the main recommendations to consider.
Latin America is the region on the planet with the most deaths of communication professionals due to coronavirus, with half of the total cases registered since March 2020, reported the Press Emblem Campaign organization.
Two journalists were killed by gang members in Haiti on Jan. 6. A police report said their bodies had been recovered with "large-caliber bullet wounds," according to AP. Several organizations demand thorough investigations.
The Article 19 organization, which has documented three violations and attacks on press freedom in Jalisco in less than a month, said these events show signs of a tendency of the state government to censor the press using legal action.
On average, one media outlet was discontinued per month in Brazil this past year. Altogether, 12 outlets ended their journeys in the country's press throughout 2021, according to a survey carried out by Portal Comunique-se.
Journalists in the Peruvian capital faced a record number of 105 cases of assault while carrying out their work, especially during the months of presidential election campaigns that were infused with a high social, political and media polarization.
LatAm Journalism Review spoke with five journalists from the region who suffered some type of physical violence in their coverage of recent protests in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, and Colombia and shows the vulnerability of press professionals from protesters of different political strata and also from security forces.
In Latin America, the pandemic exacerbated a complex phenomenon that involves many actors and has numerous sources: the excessive promotion and exaggeration –in newspaper articles or announcements by governments and scientific institutes– of the importance or potential value of a clinical trial, treatment, medicine or area of science in particular. This article explains how to avoid falling into these distortions that can lead to the erosion of social trust in science.