The freedom of expression organization Article 19 announced the release of the report "Digital Freedom in Brazil," which aims to serve as a resource to bring Brazil in agreement with international freedom of expression standards and improve online expression in the South American country.
The administration of Bolivian President Evo Morales announced on Monday, Aug. 27, that it plans to sue the Brazilian magazine Veja for an article published in June linking Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramón Quintana to drug trafficking, reported the website Brasil 247.
On Monday, Aug. 27, Brazilian civil society organizations launched the campaign "Freedom of Expression--A New Law for a New Time," reported the National Forum for the Democratization of Communication. The campaign marks the 50th anniversary of the Brazilian Telecommunications Law and calls for a new "general communication law" that defends plurality, diversity, and equal access to media and telecommunications in the South American country.
A reporter from the Brazilian newspaper Jornal da Tarde, in São Paulo, will run for city council this year 2012 elections in order to cover the campaign from a different perspective, reported the newspaper's website.
In another ruling in favor of press freedom, on Tuesday, Aug. 21, a court in São Paulo, Brazil, rejected a $3.5 million lawsuit against the TV station TV Globo, reported Conjur.
On Monday, Aug. 20, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo announced the launch of the website FolhaSPDados, an online resource for the up-coming mayoral elections in the city of São Paulo. The website will feature interactive maps and infographics to illustrate and accompany the newspaper's coverage of the election's main themes.
The killings of 12 Brazilian journalists between August 2010 and July 2012 prompted the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ in Portuguese) to announce a "special alert," reported the news agency EFE. The alert was announced during the opening of the 9th ANJ Congress, on Monday, Aug. 20, in São Paulo.
The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji in Portuguese) won the National Association of Newspapers (ANJ in Portuguese) Prize for Press Freedom on Monday, Aug. 20, reported Ancelmo Gois in his column for the newspaper O Globo. The prize was awarded during the 9th Brazilian Congress of Newspapers in the city of São Paulo.
A Brazilian TV Difusora news crew was attacked on the night of Saturday, Aug. 18, while covering the inauguration of a public square in the city of Bacabal, in Maranhão, according to the news site Imirante.
According to a court in São Paulo, the Brazilian press has the right to release all material leaked by government agents and confidentiality only applies to the police or judicial authorities who are responsible for it, reported the Counsel's website on Wednesday, Aug. 15.
Research from the International News Safety Institute (INSI) ranked Brazil among the five worst countries for journalists during the first half of the year. That places Brazil alongside Nigeria, Somalia, Indonesia, and Mexico, reported the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji in Portuguese) on Thursday, Aug. 9. As of June, at least 70 journalists and other news media professionals were killed worldwide because of their job -- that's 14 more journalists than the first six months of 2011.
Degree requirements to practice journalism in Brazil could be about to make a comeback. On Tuesday, Aug. 7, the Senate approved a bill to amend the Constitution that would reestablish degree requirements for journalists after the Federal Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional in 2009, reported the website Terra.