Robert Cox, the London-born journalist who covered Argentina’s Dirty War when other newspapers wouldn’t, has been made an “Illustrious Citizen of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires,” The Guardian reports. He received the award when visiting the city for the release of the Spanish-language edition of his son’s memoir on the experience.
Javier Canales and Alejandro Hernández, two of the four journalists kidnapped by drug gangs in Durango state, were freed in a rescue operation Saturday, AFP reports. Cameraman Héctor Gordoa was freed Thursday and La Cronica de Hoy reports that the journalist Óscar Solís had been released last Tuesday.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) questioned a proposed law that applies harsh sanctions to media outlets that publish content that affects minors.
Government officials and soldiers from the National Guard took over one of the farms owned by Guillermo Zuloaga, the majority shareholder of opposition TV station Globovisión, El Nacional reports.
Alberto Maquieira, the president of newsprint manufacturer Papel Prensa, has received several threatening letters that say things like “Maquieira, we are watching you,” La Nación reports.
The dissident journalist Guillermo Fariñas, who spent four months on hunger strike to demand the release of political prisoners, was released from the hospital and said he wants to continue writing articles, BBC reports.
The prosecutor’s office has charged Perla Jaimes, the lawyer who both represents Globovisión owner Guillermo Zuloaga and the opposition station itself, with allegedly obstructing a court order during the raid of the businessman’s house last May, El Carabobeño reports.
Prosecutors have asked journalist José Pomacusi, the director of the magazine Poder y Placer (Power and Pleasure) and the TV show No Mentiras (No Lies) to explain his alleged connections to a terrorist organization in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, EFE reports. He has asked the prosecution to "clear his name" and "respect free expression," Los Tiempos adds.
An internal government document classifies journalists as “acceptable” or not depending on their ideology and recommends ways of punishing “unacceptable” journalists, for example, by delaying press releases, the Associated Press reports. The Uruguayan Press Association said the two-year old document, which was publicized last week, is reminiscent of tactics used during the country’s military dictatorship.
Four journalism organizations are oppenly opposing a new electoral law, enacted three weeks ago, which they say violates free expression. (Read the full text PDF of the law in Spanish here.)
Renowned journalist Hollman Morris can now travel to the United States and attend Harvard University as a Nieman Fellow, after the Department of State decided to grant Morris the student visa that it had originally denied him, the Nieman Foundation reports.
President Hugo Chavez announced that his government effectively owns more than a 45 percent stake in Globovisión, a station highly critical of his administration, and that in the next several days he would appoint a member to the channel’s board, Reuters and El Universal report.