"With critical levels of violence against the Brazilian press, 2022 did not need its 365 days to surpass the record of aggressions against journalists registered in 2021. Partial data from the monitoring of attacks on the press, conducted by the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji, by its Portuguese acronym), reveal 504 cases identified between Jan. 1, 2022 and Nov. 17, 2022 - an increase of 11.3% compared to all of last year (453). The number generates an average of 10.9 episodes per week this year, against 8.7 weekly cases in 2021.
Within this brutal scenario, serious attacks have increased in worrying proportions. Between the beginning of January and mid-November, Abraji registered 153 situations involving physical aggression, intimidation, threats, and seizure and/or destruction of equipment. There were also two murders related to journalistic activity - that of Givanildo Oliveira, in February of 2022, and of Dom Phillips, in June of 2022. This total represents an 89% increase in comparison with serious cases identified during the same period the previous year. Abraji had already signaled the worsening of violence against Brazilian journalists in 2022, but new heights were reached in the context of the elections."
