Beto Ortiz, a well-known local media figure, was dismissed from Frecuencia Latina (Channel 2) for “editorial differences,” and his column in Perú21 has been discontinued. In an interview with Dedomedio magazine, the journalist claims that his departure from both media is a way to censor him for his "impertinence" in reporting irregularities in the transfer of ownership of América TV (Channel 4) to the media groups of El Comercio and La República during the administration of President Alejandro Toledo.
The U.S. government’s Radio and TV Martí broadcasts to Cuba reach fewer than 2 percent of people on the island, suffer from poor editorial standards, and have failed to make a meaningful influence on Cuban society, a U.S. Senate Committee reports (PDF) this week. See reports by AFP, the Miami Herald, Washington Post and Inter Press Service.
Journalists and organizations throughout the world marked World Press Freedom Day Monday (May 3). UNESCO's conference in Australia about defending access to information ended with auma declaration asking countries to enact laws "guaranteeing the right to information in accordance with the internationally-recognized principle of maximum disclosure." See more information about the day's events.
Participants and speakers from more than 20 countries in the Americas, Europe and Africa took part in the 11th International Symposium on Online Journalism, co-sponsored by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
In a visit to the city of Sinop, one of the largest logging centers in Mato Grosso state, journalist Andreia Fanzeres asked a resident if she liked living in Amazonia. Her response was disturbing. “I only see Amazonia on television.” The journalist's discovery of the gap between the media's reporting and the knowledge of the local population about deforestation led her to move from Rio de Janeiro to Juína, in northern Mato Grosso, to research the topic.
In a visit to the city of Sinop, one of the largest logging centers in Mato Grosso state, journalist Andreia Fanzeres asked a resident if she liked living in Amazonia. Her response was disturbing. “I only see Amazonia on television.” The journalist's discovery of the gap between the media's reporting and the knowledge of the local population about deforestation led her to move from Rio de Janeiro to Juína, in northern Mato Grosso, to research the topic.
The Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (Abraji) invites journalists and students to participate in the 5th International Congress on Investigative Journalism, from July 29-31, 2010, in São Paulo.
The “Newsroom Council” (Consejo de Redacción—CDR) will hold its 3rd annual Investigative Journalism Meeting from April 30–May 1, 2010, in Bogotá.
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, an association of women whose children disappeared during the dictatorship (1976-1983), have organized a demonstration April 29 to give an "ethical and political judgement of those journalists complicit" with the military regime.
The Chamber of Deputies approved a bill this week that would make public information accessible to citizens. The text now passes to the Senate.
The third team of the Investigative Reporting Unit of the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) published the multimedia report “The route of hake: from overfishing to a luxury good.” The package includes infographics, a fishing dictionary, and video interviews.
Proceso magazine’s publication of an interview with a leading member of the Sinaloa cartel has raised questions about the media’s role in covering drug trafficking.