A São Paulo judge has ordered Brazilian ISPs to block access to journalist Paulo Cezar Prado’s “Blog do Paulinho” website, Mônica Bergamo reports for Folha de S. Paulo. The site is known for criticizing and making allegations against executives at the Brazilian Soccer Confederation (CBF) and major domestic clubs.
Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled July 13 that government departments could not discriminate against the community radio station La Voladora with official ad spending, La Jornada reports.
Journalist Richard Romero was arrested July 18 in La Paz, Bolivia for allegedly committing “desacato” or “disrespect” by selling videos of a documentary he made that offended President Evo Morales, Los Tiempos reports.
Brazil’s federal police are investigating TV Tem, a Rede Globo affiliate in the city of São José do Rio Preto, for allegedly broadcasting confidential police recordings, Folha de S. Paulo reports.
Sport reporter Juan Pastén was arrested July 14 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia over a year-old defamation suit brought against the journalist by the president of the National Football Association (ANF), Jorge Justiniano, Los Tiempos reports.
Article 19, the freedom of expression defense organization, decried the cyber attack on three digital newspapers in Mexico that not only were temporarily forced offline, but also had personal information, contacts and reporters' notes stolen from the server, in the case of Expediente Quintana Roo.
The National Association of Journalists (CNP in Spanish) in Venezuela accused state media of spreading "hate" messages and urged authorities to take action to curb this practice with the same speed they normally investigate and punish private media, alluding to the recent complaint filed against opposition television station Globovisión, reported El Universal.
An internal investigation of the São Paulo civil police has determined, three years after the case started, that the arrest of Brazilian reporter Roberto Cabrini was a result of a police set-up, according to Folha de S. Paulo. The journalist, host of the program Conexão Repórter on television station SBT, was held for two days, accused of transporting 10 bags of cocaine in his car in April 2008.
Peruvian journalist Hans Francisco Andrade Chávez, ex-host of a news program on the local affiliate channel of América TV in Chepén, in northern Perú, was sentenced to two years in prison for defamation, according to the Press and Society Institute (IPYS in Spanish). Andrade is the most recent journalist in Peru to be convicted of libel. In April, journalist Paul Garay was sentenced to three years in jail for defamation of a prosecutor.
In his blog on the Luis Nassif website, Brazilian journalist Ricardo Gomez Filho claims he was fired from the São Paulo newspaper Folha Metropolitana on July 7 at the request of congressman Carlos Roberto de Campos of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB in Portuguese).
Journalist Emilio Palacio, in an effort to protect his newspaper from an $80 million libel suit by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correan, has resigned from his position as opinion editor at El Universo, Terra reports.
After a series of firings and journalists quitting because of complaints of censorship during the recent presidential campaign in Peru, the sudden cancellation of one of the most watched and credible journalistic programs in Peru has prompted a debate about freedom of expression and the impact of media monopolies on citizens' right to information.