Covering parliamentary elections occuring on Dec. 6 in Venezuela has become a major challenge for national and international journalists.
At a conference in Bogotá, Colombia, the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Edison Lanza, talked with representatives of various international organizations concerned with media concentration in the Americas.
From Nov. 18 to 19, international experts are meeting in Bogota, Colombia to discuss the situation of the media, legislation, ownership concentration and/or control and the impact on freedom of expression and the exercise of journalism.
Journalist David Romero could face up to eight years and four months in prison after being found guilty of defamation (injurias and calumnias). Yet, throughout the course of judicial proceedings, the director of Radio Globo has repeated accusations of prejudice and retaliation against him because of his journalistic work.
After a wave of criticism, the Panamanian Congress decided not to consider a controversial proposal that would have imposed serious restrictions on the practice of journalism for local and foreign correspondents, according to the Panamanian newspaper La Prensa.
After the Provincial Court of Pichincha in Ecuador denied the appeal for protective action filed by Brazilian journalist Manuela Picq on Oct. 1, her lawyer announced that the case will be presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Days after the Ecuadoran government shelved a process to dissolve a press freedom watchdog group in the country, the Associated Press (AP) reports that President Rafael Correa told the agency Latin American journalism in the worst in the world and a threat to democracy.
The dissolution process against the Andean Foundation for Media Observation & Study, also known as Fundamedios, was shelved following notification from the National Communications Secretariat (Secom) to the NGO, Fundamedios reported on its Twitter account on Sept. 25.
In the run up to Argentine general elections this October, the Association of Argentine Journalistic Entities (ADEPA for its acronym in Spanish) called on political candidates to protect press freedom and pointed to attacks from organized crime as increasing threats to journalists.
The Venezuelan Supreme Court said that a recent ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to restore the license of RCTV was “unenforceable.” The decision of the I/A Court in the Case of Granier and et al. (Radio Caracas Television) vs. Venezuela, considered that the State of Venezuela violated the rights to freedom of expression and due process of managers, journalists and other employees of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), and ordered the State to restore the channel’s signal and compensate the victims for damages.
As Ecuador’s main press advocacy organization fights to stay alive in the face of government orders to dissolve it, an international forum of journalists and free speech advocates released a 15-point action plan to address challenges to freedom of expression in that country.
In imminent danger of being shut down by the Ecuadoran government, one of the only voices monitoring freedom of expression and the state of journalism in that country vows to keep working.