A media phenomenon has emerged in Brazil in the wake of the massive protests that are spreading throughout the country since June. The news collective Mídia NINJA, broadcasting live from the streets with its "no cuts, no censorship" model, has attracted the attention and admiration of thousands of people in the last few weeks.
Cellular phone cameras have become a powerful tool for journalists and citizens in reporting requests for bribes and other excessive uses of power.
A photographer for Agence France-Presse (AFP) sustained a head wound by the military police during protests in Rio de Janeiro on Monday evening, July 22, 2013.
José Cristian Góes, a reporter from the Brazilian state of Sergipe, was sentenced on July 4 to seven months and a week in jail for writing and posting a fictional short story on local political cronyism in May 2012 for his blog Infonet, reported the daily Conjur.
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.
In the last months, the term "passaralho" has been echoed throughout newsrooms in Brazil. This term for those fired from their jobs in the media has gained ground due to numerous cuts that the country's major dailies and magazines -- including O Estado de S. Paulo, Valor Econônomico, Folha de S. Paulo, and the Abril publishing house -- have announced since March.
Along with other citizens, several Brazilian journalists were attacked and arrested by the Military Police during the protests against the increase in bus fares in São Paulo, which began last week.
José Roberto Ornelas de Lemos, director and son of the owner of the Brazilian daily Hora H -- which covers the Baixada Fluminense region in the state of Rio de Janeiro -- was killed with 44 gunshots in the city of Nova Iguaçu on the night of Tuesday, June 11, reported the news site Uol.
Ten investigative media platforms from Latin America combined forces to create ALiados, a network to strengthen mutual cooperation and find new ways to sustain independent journalism.
The State Court of Goiânia on Tuesday ordered journalist Luiz Carlos Bordoni to pay a $95,000 fine for damages against governor of Goiás, Marconi Perillo, reported news portal Terra.
Judges from the Brazilian capital decided on Wednesday, May 22, to uphold an order to censor newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, which continues to be unable to publish news stories about a police operation that involved relatives of prominent politician José Sarney, reported the newspaper.