In one of the most aggressive actions against the independent press in Nicaragua, the country's public prosecutor, close to the administration of President Daniel Ortega, has called at least 16 journalists from the country as witnesses or has named them among those investigated in a case of alleged money laundering.
In a new assault on the Nicaraguan press, this May 20 the government of Daniel Ortega raided for the second time the editorial office of magazine Confidencial, founded by journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, at the same time that it arrested different international journalists who they covered the incident. A cameraman for the media outlet remains missing.
After nine years in her position, Colombian journalist Clara Elvira Ospina was fired as journalistic director of América TV and Canal N, two of the most important television outlets in Peru, which also belong to Grupo La República and Grupo El Comercio, the latter being the majority shareholder. Ospina's dismissal occurred just a month before the second round of the presidential elections, in an extremely polarizing contest.
LatAm Journalism Review spoke with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay about advances in recent years, the situation for journalists on the American continent and the organization’s alliance with the Knight Center in seeking to strengthen journalism and reporting.
On April 16, a Venezuelan supreme tribunal ordered El Nacional to pay compensation to the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, considered the number two of Chavismo, for moral damage and defamation.
The global press freedom ranking by NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confirmed a perceived trend in Latin America: a general worsening of conditions for the exercise of journalism on the continent. Of the 24 countries in the region analyzed, 19 lost points in the RSF survey.
Upon accepting the 2021 Chapultepec Grand Prize, editor Marty Baron recognized not only his own objective of fighting for an independent press to ensure democracy, but the battles waged by his Latin American colleagues to do the same.
Journalistic associations in Latin America have been asking their governments to recognize journalism as a necessary profession for information during the pandemic. The region is the most deadly in the world for journalists in terms of deaths caused by COVID-19.
The demonstrations are a milestone in the country, because, after them, the Nicaraguan regime and supporters of the governing party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, turned against the press and opponents.
The Brazilian Press Association filed two lawsuits with the Federal Supreme Court to curb the abuse of lawsuits against journalists. The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism launched a program to provide legal support to independent journalists targeted by lawsuits.