During the first six months of 2012, 72 journalists were killed worldwide, a 33 percent increase over the same period the year before, according to a report published on Monday, July 2, by the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC).
On Sunday, July 1, an Ecuadorian journalist was shot nine times and killed by two men on a motorcycle close to his house in the town of El Triunfo, about 38 miles from the coastal city of Guayaquil, reported the Ecuadorian NGO Fundamedios.
Authorities in Veracruz, Mexico, said they arrested nine organized crime suspects, at least one of whom is suspected of killing Mexican reporter Víctor Báez Chino, according to Milenio, the newspaper for which Báez worked.
An intern for the Associated Press (AP) was found dead in Mexico City during the wee hours of Saturday, June 30, the AP reported.
Brazil's National Council of the Attorney General's office approved on June 26 a proposal with recommendations for investigations of crimes against journalists to be thorough, fast, and high-priority, reported the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo.
An Ecuadorian journalist received death threats via an anonymous phone call. The journalist and her family are currently under police protection after filing a complaint, the newspaper El Telégrafo reported.
The U.S. Department of State announced that it has started an investigation into the disappearance of a Mexican American journalist who has reportedly gone missing in Mexico, reported the Fox affiliate in San Antonio.
In less than two weeks, a third radio station was attacked with dynamite in Bolivia, in the southeastern city of Oruro, during the early morning hours on Tuesday, June 26, the Sole Union Confederation of Rural Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB in Spanish) reported, according to the Fide News Agency (ANF in Spanish).
Just one week from presidential elections in Mexico, a Mexican journalist was stabbed on Sunday, June 24, before entering his house in the city of Oaxaca, in the southeastern part of the country, reported the Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (CEPET in Spanish).
The Brazilian government told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States that it will not reopen the case of the killing of reporter Vladimir Herzog for further investigation due to the amnesty law, reported the G1 on Thursday, June 21.
A Mexican official confirmed that journalist Stephania Cardoso is currently under the protection of the federal government, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported Friday, June 22.
A public official from the Brazilian state of Maranhão was accused masterminding the killing of journalist Décio Sá, according to the hit-man's statement, which was leaked out on to the internet on Thursday, June 21, reported the Agência Estado.