The Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a ban on a part of the media law that requires conglomerates such as the Clarín Group to sell off some of their assets within a year, Bloomberg News reports.
A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge ruled that a Puerto Rican newspaper, El Vocero, illegally fired 107 employees and closed its circulation department, according to Editor & Publisher.
In the wake of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s statements accusing the press of acting like a political party, unions, several worker groups, government partisans, social movement activists, and progressive bloggers are planning an “action against media coup-ism” this Thursday, Sept. 23, at the headquarters of the São Paulo Journalists’’ Union, O Globo reports.
Argentina's president, Cristina Fernández, signed the regulations for a decree that returns exclusivity of newspaper and magazine sales to vendors, known as “canillitas”, selling publications in kiosks or on the street, reported the local press.
Argentina's labor minister, Carlos Tomada, has promised to guarantee continued employment for journalists and other employees whose jobs were threatened with the closure of the newspaper Crítica, according to the blog of the newspaper workers. The are to be hired by other media, whether private or government-owned, the blog said.
Argentina's President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner published on Wednesday, Sept. 1, a decree (PDF file) that outlines regulations implementing the Audiovisual Media law. The law limits the number of radio and television licenses that can be granted to the same company, and will be enforced immediately, said Gabriel Mariotto, the director of the Federal Authority of Audiovisual Communication Services, in an interview with the official news agency Télam.
In light of the on-going attempts at government regulation throughout Latin America, according to the National Press Association (ANP) of Bolivia, 13 of its affiliated newspapers have come out in favor of self-regulation and ratified their support for Article 107 of the Constitution: “Information and opinions transmitted via the media should respect the principles of honesty and accountability. These principles shall be exercised by the rules of ethics and self-regulation of journalist and media organizations and their norms."
In another chapter of the ongoing disputes between the Argentine government and the country's two main newspapers, Clarín e La Nación, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner presented on Friday, Aug. 27, a bill that would make the production, distribution and commercialization of newsprint a "public good," reported the official news agency Télam.
Today for the last time the printed version of Jornal do Brasil (JB), one of the oldest newspapers in the country, will be circulated. As of Wednesday, Sept. 1, the newspaper will be available only online.
Giant U.S. communications company Time Warner reached an agreement to purchase Chilevisión, the network of Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, for $140 million, reported La Tercera.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez announced Tuesday, Aug. 24, that the country's lawyers will bring a lawsuit accusing Argentina's two largest newspapers, Clarín and La Nación, of illegally appropriating newsprint company Papel Prensa during the military dictatorship (1976-1983), reported the official news agency Télam, the Associated Press, and Agência Estado.
The president of Brazil's National Association of Newspapers (ANJ), Judith Brito, announced that the organization is creating a board for self-regulation, reported iG. The board could begin to function as soon as the end of this year. The announcement was made during the opening of the 8th Brazilian Congress of Newspapers, in Rio de Janeiro.