Operation Car Wash, known as Lava Jato in Brazil and considered the biggest corruption case in that country’s history, has provoked the indignation of many citizens. For this reason, journalist Luiz André Alzer gave Brazilians the opportunity to seek "revenge" and punish corrupt politicians and businessmen through a card game he created that is inspired by real characters and situations of the scandal.
João Miranda do Carmo, of Brazil, and Marcos Hernández Bautista, of Mexico, were among the 14 individuals whose names were added to the Journalists Memorial at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on June 5.
Civil servants who do not comply with the Law on Access to Information (LAI) in Brazil are not punished, according to a recent report from Article 19 Brazil, an NGO that defends freedom of expression and the right to information. The report was launched in celebration of the five-year law, which became effective on May 16.
Fiquem Sabendo, an independent data journalism website founded by Brazilian journalist Léo Arcoverde, celebrates its two year anniversary in May with hundreds of reports and more than one thousand applications to the Law for Access to Information.
The first lady of Brazil, Marcela Temer, has dropped her case against newspapers O Globo and Folha de S. Paulo, according to O Globo.
Founded by a social scientist, an engineer and a journalist, Brazilian news site Nexo was born as a multidisciplinary venture, with the aim of innovating in the form and approach of information. The proposal: leave aside breaking coverage and bet on journalism of context, made by professionals from different areas, that explains the news through multimedia, interactive and data reports.
After criticism from journalist associations and entities, Judge Sergio Moro, who is responsible for cases dealing with the Lava Jato corruption scandal, backed down from the decision to access communications of Brazilian blogger Eduardo Guimarães. In an order published on March 23, Moro annulled the material obtained with the seizure of Guimarães’ telephones and computers, which would allow the identification of his sources.
The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) and nonprofit Transparency Brazil launched the project Achados e Pedidos (Request and Found), which aims to be the country’s largest platform for requests and responses to the Law of Access to Information (LAI), as well as a tool to monitor compliance with the legislation.
The photos on Simon Romero’s Instagram account are microcosms of the places and people has has written about in the region for more than a decade. Views of abandoned swimming pools in Henry Ford’s long-forgotten town in the Amazon, of a fisherman banked along the Río de la Plata in Buenos Aires, or artists “pimping” the carts of trash collectors in Rio and guanacos in Patagonia.
Although the number of murders of Brazilian journalists has dropped to only two cases in 2016, violations against the press have manifested in other ways. The annual report from the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert) reported that, compared to 2015, last year saw a 65.5 percent increase in cases of violations to freedom of expression.
Renowned university journalism programs across Brazil will open courses on entrepreneurship, management and business from now until 2018, and many have already included the content into their curricula.
Journalist Leandro Stoliar of Rede Record, who was detained in Venezuela while reporting on allegations of corruption, said he was treated "as a prisoner, a criminal" during the 30 hours he was detained. Stoliar said the press is not free to work in the country, where "information is a crime."