Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa, president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF in Portuguese), criticized the journalistic coverage of judicial topics in Brazil. In his opinion, the press has been monothematic and addresses topics on the agenda with little preparation.
The creation of a new intelligence body in Venezuela that, among other powers, has the capacity to declare information as "reserved" or "classified," generated concern among different national and international organizations, several publications reported.
Mexico, El Salvador and Antigua are ranked higher than Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia on a global ranking of right to information laws, according to the annual ratings prepared by Access Info Europe (AIE) and Halifax-based Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD).
Jineth Bedova Lima, Carlos Dada, Marcela Turati and Anabel Hernández are some of the journalists working out of Latin America mentioned in a list recently published by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) that compiles 100 of the most influential journalists covering armed conflict in regions around the world. AOAV is a UK-based charity group that focuses on reducing armed violence by hosting in-country programs, lobbying governments and investigating issues.
In a public display of derision against private media that has become habitual, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa again ripped apart the editions of a handful of local newspapers during one of his recent televised national addresses known as "cadenas." This time Correa also warned three publications that they could face sanctions under the country's Communications Law, under which they are required to "publish public interest articles," non-profit Fundamedios reported.
Numerous protests led by journalists across Bolivia rallied earlier this month in the country's most important cities and squares to protest against a new federal transparency bill that would limit -- instead of expanding -- access to public information, news agency AFP reported.
The Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information, a coalition of several organizations from 19 countries in Latin America and the U.S., wrote an open letter to senators and other Uruguayan officials expressing its concern over a series of proposed amendments to the country's Law on Public Access of Information. According to the group, the proposed changes are "regressive" in nature and could significantly limit citizens' access to government information.
A Brazilian court has prohibited Diario de Pernambuco and Jornal do Commercio, two of the largest newspapers in the state of Pernambuco, from mentioning the name or show pictures of the president of the state’s Legislative Assembly, Guilherme Uchoa, news portal Terra reported. The decision also applies to Brazilian station TV Clube.
The Buenos Aires chapter of the organization Hacks/Hackers is a few days away from the beginning of its second Media Party, which in less than two years has become one of the biggest events on the continent for techie journalists and programmers interested in media.
As part of the peace negotations in Colombia, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) asked last Friday for public financing to create their own media outlets, reported the news agency EFE.
Amid the massive protests spreading throughout Brazil -- sparked by an increase in bus fares -- the mass media coverage also has become a target of criticism.
Since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985, Brazil has been known as a free country regarding free speech and access to information. Although both rights are guaranteed in the Constitution of 1988, there is a disturbing distance between the words written on paper and their implementation in practice.