Several freedom of information groups were outraged at a proposed reform to Guatemala's access to information law, which would make diplomatic and military documents confidential, reported the Guatemalan Center for Investigative Reporting.
The Cuban Union of Journalists (UPEC in Spanish), a syndicate aligned with the Cuban government, demanded greater access to information from official sources, according to a statement by the union.
The Argentine newspaper La Nación is negotiating the takeover of the U.S. media company ImpreMedia, which owns seven Spanish language newspapers, including La Opinión in Los Angeles and New York's El Diario/La Prensa, the oldest Spanish-language daily in the United States, reported the New York Post. La Nación, based in Buenos Aires, is Argentina's second-largest daily.
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo announced that he will send a bill to regulate the press during the inauguration of the new session of Congress, according to the Associated Press.
Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho, who exposed a child prostitution ring, and Roberto Saviano, author of the book "Gomorrah," were awarded the Swedish Olof Palme 2011 prize, reported the Associated Press.
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.
Since it launched in September 2011, thousands of journalists have signed on to use the Facebook "subscribe" feature, which allows users to subscribe to the news feeds of journalists and public figures without having to befriend them. And since November, the average journalist has seen a 320 percent increase in the number of subscribers, Facebook is reporting.
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.
Taking advantage of YouTube's massive audience -- the online site streams 4 billion videos a day and one hour of video is uploaded every second -- the Reuters news agency has announced the launch of Reuters TV, which will offer 10 different shows on the Reuters YouTube channel, according to Mashable.
Knowing how to write source code and manage data sets are skills no longer reserved for nerds; data journalism is a growing field in reporting. But, if you're not part of the (big) group of journalists that aren't familiar with coding, you can still take advantage of some digital tools to lessen the work behind a story.