Brazil, Chile and the United States tumbled dramatically in the 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index that Reporters Without Borders released Wednesday, Jan. 25. Brazil dropped 41 places to no. 99, Chile plummeted 47 places to no. 80, and the United States fell 27 spots to no. 47.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called a Dominican Republic journalist's six-month prison sentence for slander and libel dangerous and disproportionate.
Honduran journalist Gilda Silvestrucci announced she received death threats over the phone mentioning the ages of her children and where they could be found, and family members were questioned about her, reported the organization C-Libre.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) published a report criticizing the Ecuadoran government for measures taken against freedom of the press and expression.
Human Rights Watch's 2012 World Report, released on Jan. 22, 2012, accuses the Venezuelan government of trying to control independent media and the judiciary in order to silence opposition voices, reported the website Uol.
The Chilean government announced that it will withdraw the "Hinzpeter Bill," a proposal that would have permitted authorities to demand media companies turn over their archives to the police without a warrant, reported ANSA.
A Spanish journalist jailed in Cuba for 17 months over allegations of sexually exploiting minors after reporting on child prostitution on the island for the television station Telecinco arrived back in Madrid on Jan. 17, reported the news agency EFE.
The Mexican Supreme Court will review an appeal from oil businessmen against journalists from the magazine Contralínea charged with libel, reported the news agency Notimex.
A lawyer who served as a newspaper source was killed in Honduras on Jan. 17, three days after speaking out against police abuse and torture, reported the freedom of expression organization C-Libre.
In the Brazilian city of Aral Moreira, Mato Grosso do Sul, the creator of the website and print publication O Arrastão, journalist Geraldo Ferreira, was threatened online in the comments section of his website, reported MS Já on Monday, Jan. 16.
President Hugo Chávez's aggressive stance against the media in Venezuela has been characterized as "totalitarian and dictatorial" by the Inter American Press Association, which considers freedom of expression under threat in the South American country.
With Wikipedia blacked out to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) anti-piracy bills in the U.S. Congress, news outlets like the Washington Post, NPR and the Guardian teamed up to use crowdsourcing via Twitter to try to serve as a make-shift encyclopedia, according to the Huffington Post.